Additional Resources
How adoption works, first steps, and adoption agencies.
How Adoption Works
Facing unexpected pregnancy is life-changing. If circumstances leave you unable to raise your baby, adoption may be the right option for you. We’re here to help you figure out the details.
First of all, adoption doesn’t mean that you’re giving up your baby. It means you’re choosing to hand your parental rights over to adoptive parents.
If you decide to have an open adoption, you will be able to choose your baby’s adoptive parents and your level of ongoing contact with your baby and the adoptive family.
And don’t worry about costs. Most adoption agencies provide free care for you during your pregnancy, as the adoptive family often pays for your support and medical costs. If you’re currently unable to support a baby, adoption gives your child a safe, secure, and loving new home.
First Steps
If you’ve decided that adoption is the right choice for you, it can be difficult knowing where to start. Questions come from every angle. What agency should you work with? What does your future relationship with your child look like? Do you even want a relationship?
All these questions have answers, so don’t worry. Let’s walk through the first two steps together.
STEP 1: Choose Your Future Relationship
What do you want your future relationship with your child to look like? Do you want to be a part of their life? With most adoptions today, the birthmother interacts with the adoptive family. This is called Open Adoption. However, the choice is up to you.
As the current most popular method of adoption, open adoption means that you maintain regular interaction with your child and their adoptive family. With open adoption, you can choose your child’s adoptive parents and even meet them face-to-face, depending on your preference.
Most importantly, you get to choose how much to interact with your child and their adoptive family in the future. You can choose face-to-face interaction, letters or phone calls, or no contact at all. The goal is tailoring the adoption to the specific needs of you and your child.
As the bridge between open adoption and closed adoption, semi-open adoption allows you some of the same choices as open adoption while maintaining anonymity.
Semi-open adoption means that you and the adoptive family will both remain anonymous. If you desire to interact with your child, you often go through a third party, such as a lawyer or the adoptive agency.
With closed adoption (also called confidential adoption), the records of the birth parents are sealed, and there is absolutely no interaction between you and your child. Much like in semi-open adoption, the adoption agency will function as the mediating party between you and your child’s adoptive parents.
If you change your mind later on and desire interaction with your child, most adoptive families will allow contact.
Adoption doesn’t mean that you’re giving up your baby. It means you’re choosing to hand your parental rights over to adoptive parents.
STEP 2: Choosing an Adoption Agency
This is an important choice, as many agencies will work with you long-term, throughout your child’s life. Most agencies work with all three types of adoption (open, semi-open, and closed). However, some agencies specialize in one type of adoption. Do research and choose what agency best fits your needs.
First of all, don’t worry about costs. Many adoption agencies will work with you at little to no cost to you. And feel free to look outside your locality – some adoption agencies will help with travel costs and even provide housing for you during your pregnancy. The adoption agency you choose will tailor an adoption plan that best fits your needs.
Bethany Christian Services
The goal of Bethany Christian Services, is to develop an adoption plan that is perfect for the needs of you and your child. You are not “giving up” your child – you’re giving your child the gift of life.
At Bethany, you are empowered with the ability to choose your child’s adoptive family – even details like where that family lives and if they have pets. Throughout the process, you have control.
“At Bethany, if you choose to place your child for adoption, we walk with you.”
A Guardian Angel Adoptions
This adoption agency brims with kind and compassionate staff. As a licensed national newborn and domestic infant center, the staff at A Guardian Angel Adoptions will tailor your adoption to your unique situation.
In addition to their personalize service, the adoption center provides resources for your pregnancy, provides housing (if necessary), and helps pay for any travel expenses.
“At Guardian Angel Adoptions, our dream is to complete families with passion and professionalism.”
Lifetime Adoption
At Lifetime Adoption, your comfort and safety is the number-one goal. The center will build an adoption plan just for you.
As specialists in open adoptions, the agency allows you to choose your baby’s adoptive family, decide on your level of contact, and tailor how things go when you’re at the hospital. The agency also offers pregnancy care and legal assistance at no cost to you.
“At Lifetime Adoptions, our mission is to help families and birth-mothers come together.”