William D. Durand, Attorney at Law

3 years ago, Durand Cook became an angel on my shoulder. Durand's in-depth approach, patience and hands on support made the process as painless as it could possibly be. As promised, he made the perfect match for our family and our birth mother. His expertise and guidance were calming and invaluable and resulted in the greatest gift of my life - my beautiful son. Edith and Jennifer are absolutely amazing as well, and the team works so well together Our family will be forever grateful to Durand and his amazing staff for making our dreams come true.

Beautiful office and Taylor is nice. This lawyer is truly not good for the birth parents. If you are thinking about adopting your baby to a deserving couple, look elsewhere. He only looks out for his pocketbook and even disrespects the adopting couples as well. Please think of your baby and your sanity before even contemplating dealing with this man. Protect yourself and be safe.

Over 26 or so years ago, my husband and I decided to use Durand's services after disliking the other adoption services we scoped out. I know prospective adoptive parents get impatient and want quick results, but my husband and I didn't mind the wait as we didn't want to rush into any situation when there's a baby involved. The first time Durand had us come to his office to meet a birthmother, we waited a long time because it turned out the birthmother never showed up and Durand was trying to find her. Not Durand's fault, although I can see other prospective adoptive parents taking out their frustration on him, which is wrong in my opinion. The second birthmother almost made the cut, but we had to bail out because she turned out to be too risky. Even her own mother warned us off because she didn't want to see us get hurt. That birthmother emotionally drained us so badly that we told Durand not to call us for a month. The next day, however, he called and kept insisting that we meet a birthmother that he knew was a good fit. My husband got irritated at his insistence and argued with him, but he wouldn't take "no" for an answer. We wearily agreed to meet the birthmother, and we're so glad Durand wouldn't let us pass her up. Our son is the best we could've ever hoped for and his birthmother is fantastic. She was always fiercely protective of his privacy--even got angry at her relatives for trying to connect with him on Facebook--and told us it had to be our son's decision, not ours or hers, on whether or not he would meet her one day. He's 25 now and met his birthmother earlier this year, and it was a wonderful experience. I don't know if we would've done this well if we rushed Durand into finding us any birthmother anywhere as soon as possible. I don't recall after all these years how long it took before Durand started finding us possible matches, but it seemed like many months. You really cannot rush these kinds of things. If you want to rush, go to China and get a baby. With Durand, it's not going to be like that.

Whether you are considering adoption from the birth parent or adoptive parent perspective this is a very difficult and extremely emotional time. No one in your circle of relationships, family, or friends may truly understand. “Why can’t you just keep your baby?”...”Why can’t you just have your own baby?” It’s hard sometimes to remember that the goal in all of this is to help the children. It’s not just about you. There will be long running emotional repercussions to come to terms with regardless. Think of lawyers what you will but if you had to choose between a proper system or Craigslist what would you decide? Do some research on how many people waiting to adopt far outnumber available children. Google the average time it takes for a couple to successfully adopt. I waited just over ten years. While you are waiting, make the most of your time. Be productive. Do a lot of research. Seek support. Join a group. Use more than one agency at a time. But also, don’t forget to keep living your life. Pointing fingers doesn’t help...trust me.

I am a birth mother that went to Mr. Cook to help me give my baby the best possible home to live in and at first he seemed nice. When I gave birth to my beautiful daughter, the couple we had chosen basically stole the baby from us at the hospital and we have not heard from them since. This man is the worst lawyer you could use and I would pray that you look for someone else to help you if you choose to do an adoption. God bless you in your choice and be safe. If the gentleman that was working with Durand and being ignored by him wants to use a good attorney, look up John Giffen in Santa Clarita, I believe! He is someone that will help you and the birth parents to be connected. Good luck Sam Lopez and may you get a beautiful baby soon.