The Support You Need When Giving Up Your Baby
The prospect of giving up your baby for adoption may make you feel like you’ve lost control of the situation, but that’s far from the case. If you’re unable to parent your child, whatever the reason, giving up your baby for adoption is the least selfish choice you could make-and it’s one you have complete control of with your adoption plan.
What’s an adoption plan?
An adoption plan is the plan you make about the future of you and your baby. This includes choosing the baby’s adoptive family, your medical care and birth plan, counseling services, the type of adoption you want-and every other detail. You are in the driver’s seat the entire time.
I’ve decided that adoption is the best thing for my baby. What now?
Placing your baby for adoption means you’ve put your child’s needs before yours. That takes courage and love and we respect your decision. We also know that you have even more questions about “what now”? While there is obviously much more to the process of giving up your baby, which we will guide you through, the basic steps you can expect to go through are:
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Call an adoption professional. Placing your baby is a difficult decision, which is why the first thing we do is get to know you, help you learn about all your options and make sure you’re comfortable taking this first step.
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Complete some paperwork. We will need to gather information about you and your medical background-all used confidentially-and some other basic information that allows us to begin creating your adoption plan. These forms in no way commit you to placing your baby. In fact, nothing is final until after the birth of your baby.
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Create a detailed adoption plan. Your adoption plan will be very specific to your needs and desires, but some of the things we will help you consider include:
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The type of medical, financial and emotional support you need during your pregnancy.
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What type of adoptive family you want. Do you want to choose the family or would you like your adoption counselor to do it? Do you want to meet the family in person or talk with them by phone or email?
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Do you want an open or closed adoption? How much and what type of interaction would you like after the adoption is complete?
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And many more details.
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Placement after the baby’s birth. If you are still comfortable with your adoption plan after the baby is born, the baby will go home with the adoptive parents. This can be a difficult and emotional time, which is why your AAA Partners in Adoption counselor will be with you every step of the way.
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Legal and Post Adoption Support. Your adoption counselor will explain the legal process of adoption and will talk with you about the type of support you need to help you process your emotions. Choosing adoption is a life long decision and preparing yourself for this is vital. You will want to consider getting counseling, joining a support group, and focusing your attention on other goals such as going back to school and/or your career.
More than anything, we want you to know that you’re not alone. We understand the difficult path that lies ahead of you. We will walk beside you the entire time-even long after your baby has been placed with a family.