An Oklahoma City nonprofit that has helped women navigate unexpected pregnancies since 1900 is throwing its biggest fundraiser of the year next week, and this time the spotlight belongs to the birth mothers themselves. Deaconess Pregnancy & Adoption will hold its 18th Annual For the Love of Adoption Gala at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum on August 27, with four birth mothers taking the stage to share adoption experiences ranging from ten to twenty years old.
Deaconess Pregnancy & Adoption is a private organization founded in 1900 to help women and children, and as reported by News 9, the agency has served Oklahoma continuously since that founding. The gala will celebrate the organization's adoption program and raise money to support its ongoing work, with Amanda Taylor set to emcee the evening. According to the outlet, a live panel of four birth mothers who used the agency's services will anchor the program, offering a rare public look at how families have navigated open adoption over the years.
The Free Methodist deaconesses who founded the effort in Guthrie in December 1900 called it the Oklahoma Rescue Home, a shelter for unwed mothers that later relocated to Oklahoma City and became known as the Home of Redeeming Love, according to the Oklahoma Center for Nonprofits. That ministry eventually opened a maternity facility that grew into Deaconess Hospital in 1944, with the adoption agency and the general hospital formally splitting into separate entities in 2005. The adoption program now operates as a nonprofit under the Butterfield Memorial Foundation, which was established that same year using proceeds from the sale of Deaconess Hospital to a for-profit health network.
A Legacy Measured in Thousands of Families
Since its founding, the agency has served more than 14,000 expectant parents and facilitated the adoption of over 5,500 children into permanent families, per data compiled by Cause IQ. That history makes Deaconess Pregnancy & Adoption the oldest continuously operating nonprofit adoption agency in Oklahoma, the same reporting notes. Heather Hails, who has worked with the organization for 14 years and now serves as its executive director, has overseen its work helping women process options during unexpected pregnancies and vulnerable situations, according to News 9's account.
Deaconess Pregnancy & Adoption provides compassionate, nonjudgmental care and information about options without pressure to place a child for adoption, the outlet's report states. The agency serves the whole state of Oklahoma and does not require clients to come into its office, instead offering an on-call phone line, text messaging, phone calls, and website email contact. Staff will also travel directly to locations where clients feel comfortable meeting, according to Adoption is Love, which also notes the agency maintains a secondary office and a 24/7 crisis pregnancy line in Wichita, Kansas, extending its reach into southern Kansas.
Podcast Brings Birth Mother Voices to a Wider Audience
Earlier this year, the organization launched its own “Adoption is Love” podcast, featuring candid conversations with birth mothers, adoptees, and adoption specialists about open adoption choices and family dynamics, according to Rephonic. The show released 20 episodes in its first six months, the same source reports. Organizers plan to record a live episode during the gala's birth mother panel, according to Air1 Worship Music, which also confirms the evening will include a live auction and “Mystery Pull” fundraising bags at the museum on Persimmon Hill.
The venue itself carries its own regional history: the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum was established in 1955 and now houses more than 28,000 Western and Native American artworks and artifacts, according to Cause IQ. Gala tickets are available through the Deaconess Pregnancy & Adoption website or by calling the organization's office at 405-949-4200, and per News 9's reporting, sales continue through the Tuesday following the article's publication.
Open Adoption's Legal Framework in Oklahoma
The birth mother panel arrives against a backdrop of specific legal protections built into Oklahoma's adoption process. Under the Oklahoma Adoption Code, post-adoption contact agreements in open adoptions are legally enforceable in state court once formally incorporated into a written court order, according to American Adoptions. Modifying such an agreement later requires showing the change serves the child's best interest and securing consent from all parties, per the same source.
Separately, Oklahoma statutory law requires a birth parent's written consent to adoption be executed before a district court judge, after which that consent becomes final and irrevocable except in cases of proven fraud or duress, according to Justia Law. Biological parents may also execute affidavits of nondisclosure at the time of that judicial acknowledgment, the same legal reporting notes.
A Statewide Decline in Adoption Volume
The gala also lands amid a broader shift in Oklahoma's child welfare landscape. Statewide data from the Oklahoma Department of Human Services shows the number of children authorized for adoption in Oklahoma fell from 1,177 in 2017 to just 476 in 2025, according to the KIDS COUNT Data Center. That steep drop underscores why organizations like Deaconess Pregnancy & Adoption emphasize both outreach and post-placement support, from the podcast to the annual gala itself, as they continue serving families wanting to grow through adoption across the state.
