Choosing Adoption
One option you may not have considered for your pregnancy is adoption. Adoption is not an easy choice to make. However, depending on your current life situation, it could be the best decision for you and your child.
Understanding Adoption
The adoption process decades ago was very different than the process today. You may have heard past stories of birth moms being sent away, forced to “give up” their babies.
Today, the birth mother (and father, if he’s involved) make an adoption plan for their child. You are in the driver’s seat. You decide what type of environment you want your child to grow up in, who the adoptive parents will be, and what type of adoption you are comfortable with. Although not an easy decision to make, you have control throughout the entire process.
Types of Adoption
If you are not ready to be a parent, adoption allows another parenting option. Listed below are a few adoption plans you can choose from. None of them are right or wrong. It’s what seems best to you.
Open Adoption
Open adoption means you and the adoptive family share information such as full names, phone numbers, emails, and addresses. You can have access to one another through face-to-face meetings, phone calls, texts, and letters.
Together, you decide what is comfortable for you, the child, and their family. You will have the opportunity to be a part of the child’s life in whatever capacity is best for both parties.
Closed or Confidential Adoption
Some women who choose adoption prefer to have no communication with the adoptive family or child. To move on with their lives, they feel this is the best choice. You will still choose the adoptive family, but you can choose not to interact with them before or after the birth.
Your identity remains completely anonymous in a closed adoption. You have total privacy.
Semi-Open Adoption
A semi-open adoption means the communication you do have will be through a third party, like a lawyer or an adoption agency. You will still choose the adopting family, but your relationship will be more controlled.
You may exchange first names, but no other identifying information such as phone numbers or addresses is given. Since contact goes through a representative, you and the family can still receive information from each other about your child.
Next Steps
Our client advocates are available to share the adoption process with you and give you referrals to agencies that can explain more plans for this choice.
Once again, we want you to have as much information as possible to make the best choice for you. You matter. We care.