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Making an adoption plan for your baby is an incredible, life-changing experience. Choosing adoption means placing your child’s needs first. As an expectant mother, you are already thinking what is best for your child. You can lovingly design an adoption plan that meets your needs, makes you feel comfortable with the decision, all while getting the supportive care you need and deserve throughout the process.
In this short guide, we will share helpful information to help guide you as you begin to research the adoption journey.
What Does Considering Adoption Really Mean?
Right now, as you face this decision, you may be feeling scared, stressed, and overwhelmed. You are researching a host of topics, including pregnancy and terms like “considering adoption for my baby.” This is a very normal response to an unplanned pregnancy.
Considering adoption just means that you are thinking about placing your baby for adoption. You have not necessarily made up your mind, but you are educating yourself. You may be thinking about your other options, your support network, and your future, as well. These can all play a role in your decision.
As you consider adoption, you can rest assured that you have options. You can take your time to think about this path, and there are resources that you can turn to.
Making an Adoption Plan vs. “Giving Up” Your Baby
It is important to understand, when considering adoption, that you are not “giving your baby up for adoption,” as the dated phrase would suggest. Adoption is ANYTHING BUT giving up. Within the adoption community, we say “making an adoption plan” because that is the more accurate way to describe this loving choice. You are carefully considering the best way to support your needs while ensuring your child has a happy, healthy, and stable life. You are planning for your baby’s life.
Your Rights as a Birth Mother
As you consider this path, you should also understand your rights as an expectant/birth mother. You have the right to an attorney – one that will be provided to you, at no cost, with a private adoption agency. You also have the right to many other supportive services that go along with the adoption process, including financial assistance, medical coverage, and counseling services. None of these services come at a financial cost to the expectant/birth mother.
Learn More About Birth Mother Rights
How Does the Adoption Process Work?
Step 1: Reaching Out for Support
The first step of the adoption process is to contact an adoption agency. This can simply be a step in gathering information as you consider adoption for your baby. With an adoption agency like Adoptions With Love, you can receive commitment-free information to help empower you in this choice. An adoption agency can walk you through the adoption journey, providing the supportive services you need – at no cost – holding your hand every step of the way.
Step 2: Choosing an Adoptive Family
Once you have determined that adoption is right for you and you have chosen your adoption agency, you can begin to consider the adoptive family that will adopt your baby. Adoptions With Love, like many other adoption agencies, offers expectant/birth mothers the chance to choose their child’s adoptive parent(s) and browse adoptive family profiles before making any decisions. You can also choose to speak with – or meet – a hopeful adoptive parent before making your decision if you wish.
Step 3: Creating Your Adoption Plan
Another key step in the adoption process is to design your adoption plan. At Adoptions With Love, you can choose an open, semi-open, or closed adoption. There is no right or wrong choice when making an adoption plan. Your adoption agency can help guide you as you choose an adoption plan that feels most comfortable for you and best meets your needs.
Step 4: Birth and Placement
The next step in the adoption journey is to prepare for birth and placement. This part can be emotionally heavy for expectant/birth parents because it can feel like an end to a chapter. It is, however, only the beginning. With adoption, you can rest assured that your child will be placed in a safe, healthy, and loving home that you choose. You can pursue your own dreams, knowing your child is well cared for, with parents who can offer a stable life full of opportunities you may not be able to provide.
Step 5: After Placement
Adoption is a life-long journey. It does not end once the paperwork is filed. After placement, you should continue counseling as you heal from the pregnancy and placement – physically and emotionally. If you have an open adoption, you can begin – when you are ready – to build your relationships with your child’s adoptive family.
What Are My Adoption Options?
Open Adoption
An open adoption means there is direct, ongoing communication between birth and adoptive parents after the adoption is complete. This can look different for every family, as you can determine the form and frequency of communication.
Semi-Open Adoption
A semi-open adoption falls somewhere between open and closed adoption. With a semi-open adoption, you may choose your child’s adoptive parent(s) and then contact the adoption agency, who can be a communication liaison between birth and adoptive families.
Closed Adoption
With a closed adoption, there is zero identifying information or communication between birth and adoptive families. This can feel like the right choice if your primary concern is privacy and anonymity. Most adoptions today are open, but there are some birth parents who find comfort in a semi-open or closed adoption. There is no right or wrong choice when making an adoption plan.
Who Can Adopt My Baby?
Adoption laws, by state, can dictate who can adopt a child, but adoption agencies can determine their own set of requirements. At Adoptions With Love, for example, adoptive parents must be at least 21 years old. Generally, any responsible adult who can complete the Home Study can adopt a child. The Home Study includes several elements, including:
- Thorough criminal background checks and screenings
- Multiple at-home visits and interviews with each person in the household
- The review of medical and financial records
The Home Study ensures that each child is placed with an adoptive family that is healthy enough – physically, mentally/emotionally, and financially – to raise a child.
What Support Is Available to Me?
The benefit of working with an adoption agency is having access to supportive services at no cost. This includes financial assistance during this stressful time in your life.
Counseling and Emotional Support
An unplanned pregnancy is an emotional experience. When planning an adoption, it is critical to pursue ongoing counseling support – before and after the pregnancy. Adoptions With Love offers counseling services at no cost for up to a year following the adoption.
Financial Assistance
You have the right to receive financial support for maternity related expenses, as well, throughout the adoption journey. You can receive assistance with your living expenses, including a deposit and several months of rent reimbursed, as needed. You can also receive support with utilities, phone bills, transportation costs, food bills, and even maternity clothes, as needed.
Legal Guidance
You have the right to an attorney throughout the adoption process. Adoptions With Love has a team of adoption attorneys trained in, and knowledgeable with adoption laws in your state. Your adoption attorney can guide you through the legal process and help you understand your rights as an expectant/birth mother, answering any questions you may have along the way.
How to Take the Next Step
Learning about your options and supportive services throughout the adoption process is a good first step toward making an adoption plan for your baby. If you are ready to take the next step, and speak with an adoption agency, you can take that leap at no commitment. Contact Adoptions With Love at any time for information and guidance. We can walk you through the adoption journey and support you every step of the way. We are here for you. Call 617-964-4357, text (confidentially) 617-777-0072, or contact us online.