Giving Up My Baby for Adoption

Thank you for considering adoption as a choice for you and your baby.  Though you may think of adoption as “giving up” your baby, we hope by the end of this post, you will understand that adoption is about making a plan for your baby or child, and that you are giving them life.

• The first step: The first step in making an adoption plan is to get the correct information about adoption. This includes knowing your rights as an expectant/birth parent, what the legal process of adoption is in your State, what the process is for the baby’s birth father, how adoptive couples are approved, and what to expect every step of the adoption journey.

Hope Center is here to help you get the information you need and help you with each step.  Our Adoption Counselors will not pressure you.  As you learn the information you need to know, they will help you connect to resources you need to maintain a healthy pregnancy, help you evaluate your goals and dreams for the future both for you and your baby, assess your financial needs within what they law allows, and reach out to the baby’s birth father.

• The Next Steps:  As you make your adoption plan, you will be able to choose a family that will raise your child.  You will be able to access information about that family such as; their names, religion, and other similar information contained in their home study (this is a document created by an agency to show the character, background history, and competency of a prospective adoptive couple).

You can choose to meet the family who you are considering and discuss an adoption agreement with them.  This agreement is not legally binding, but is a moral agreement between you and the adoptive couple regarding openness after the adoption if finalized.

Hope Center has several waiting families who have gone through extensive background checks, personal information screenings, interviews, financial assessments, and adoptive parenting education. 

It is important to know that at any step in this process, you can change your mind.  Hope Center will respect your decision.

• Finally: You need to be prepared for adoption day and after the adoption. While adoption is the right choice for many women, there is grief that occurs through the adoption process.  You need to have someone who can walk alongside you to help you positively deal with the grief and loss associated with the adoption process.  You need to understand that grief is normal even when you are completely sure that adoption is the right decision.

When making an adoption plan with Hope Center, your counselor will talk with you about the grieving process.  They will give you ways to walk through the grief in a healthy, healing way.  Through the process and after, you can meet with and talk to other women who have placed a child(ren) for adoption.  They can also share with you how they are walking through the healing process, and what to may expect as you heal.

From the steps above, you can see that adoption is much more about a plan and a relationship than just giving your baby away.  You are courageous for considering this option.  There is no shame in placing your child for adoption.  It takes thought, love, and commitment, but you don’t have to do it alone.

Hope Center would love to help you as you consider this option.  To make a free and confidential appointment with one of our counselors, text or call Hope Center at (931)252-7159.  You can also check us out on Instagram and Facebook.