If you are still on the fence, you have a lot to consider. You also have a lot of resources on your side.
Is Adoption the Right Choice?
Parenting and adoption are both valid choices. Do you feel yourself going back and forth between your options? Many women with an unplanned pregnancy feel this way. After all, there is no quick way to know if adoption is the best choice for you. If you want to know if adoption is the best choice, there are a few things you can do:
1. Give Yourself Time to Decide
You do not have to know the answer immediately, but your upcoming due date might make you feel under pressure to decide quickly. The truth is that you don’t even have to know your final decision by the time you deliver. You can consider adoption throughout your pregnancy and then decide you want to parent, or you can try to parent and then make an adoption plan. Your due date is not a looming deadline for your decision. It’s never too late to choose adoption.
2. Research Your Options
Research is the key to helping you make this decision. For example, you might want to research how possible it is for you to get a degree while parenting or to find a job while parenting. You can research the costs of childcare in your area and speak with mothers who are parenting and others who have chosen adoption. Sometimes a conversation with another mother can help you see the options more clearly. They can also provide you with some emotional support.
3. Create Written Plans
Your next step involves writing out your plans if you went with either adoption or parenting. What would parenting look like for you, considering your finances, childcare options, and educational goals? Then, consider what adoption would look like. What kind of parents do you imagine for your child? What kind of upbringing do you imagine for your child? Sometimes seeing both plans in writing helps you see that one option works better for you.
4. Consider the Benefits
Adoption offers some benefits you may not have considered. For example, adoption can be completely confidential, and you can keep the entire process private. Additionally, adoption is a free option that comes with financial help related to your pregnancy expenses in many cases. Adoption services are completely free for birth mothers.
5. Consider the Different Adoption Options
Adoption comes with a series of different options you can choose. For example, you not only get to choose an adoptive family for your child, but you can also have an open and loving relationship with them. You are not shut out of the child’s life.
Dispelling Adoption Myths
One reason that many women might not consider adoption as an option is because they have heard some myths about it. For example, some pregnant women may have heard that adoption has to be local. While some people prefer to work with a local adoption agency and find local adoptive parents, but others prefer to place their baby with a family that lives out of town.
Additionally, simply because you choose a family that lives far away does not mean you can’t have an open adoption. Thanks to social media and smart phones, you can have an open adoption with a family, even if they live across the country.
The Steps of Adoption
If you believe the adoption option is right for you, you probably want to know the next steps in the process. These are the steps you may go through in your adoption journey:
1. See a Doctor
Visiting with a doctor as soon as you think you are pregnant can help you gauge how far along you are and check on the baby’s health. No matter the choice you make, taking care of your health is so important. Plus, the first few months of pregnancy have a strong impact on the development of your baby. Your doctor will show how to take care of yourself as your pregnancy progresses, as well.
2. Call an Adoption Professional
Adoption professionals walk many birth mothers through the process of choosing the adoption option. A professional helps you create a plan and gives you access to some of the resources you need to get you through the next steps. Call or text Lifetime Adoption Center at 1-800-923-6784 to learn more information and get started. With Lifetime Adoption, you’ll get your very own Adoption Coordinator, dedicated to helping you.
3. Set Up an Adoption Plan
Your Adoption Coordinator will help you set up a plan for your adoption. You get to say how you want your adoption to go, from labor and delivery to the communication you receive after the baby goes home with the adoptive parents.
When you set up your plan, you can choose the kind of adoption you want: open, semi-open, or closed. This determines what kind of contact you’ll have with the adoptive parents and the child. Some birth mothers prefer to receive a written update with photos once a year, but some prefer to be able to visit once a year.
4. Choose Your Baby’s Adoptive Parents
As a birth mother, you also have the power to choose a couple to raise your baby. Adoption agencies can provide you with information about the families looking to adopt. Profiles offer information about the careers, parenting styles, and hobbies of those couples. In fact, you can start looking at potential parents any time online.
5. Welcome Your New Baby
When it’s time to give birth, your Adoption Coordinator helps you move through your birth plan step by step. After labor and delivery, you can spend time with your baby if you want to.
During this time, you’ll also begin planning for life after placement, which might include counseling, getting in touch with other birth mothers, and building a strong support network. All of these steps help you build a beautiful and loving relationship with your child and the adoptive family.
Consider choosing adoption as an option to an unplanned pregnancy. As an expectant mother, there are many choices. Through open adoption, many expectant women have found a wonderful way to give their babies and themselves the best possible life and a chance to explore their own dreams as well as a future with a plan. Call Lifetime and ask about your options. You will never be pressured or judged. Just shared possibilities.
We are here with free help and answers as you explore the choices you have through adoption. Take some time to learn if adoption is the best choice for your baby or child. Chat with us live or call or text us any time, even right now!
1-800-923-6784.