Pregnant? Adoption As an Option

Psychologists have assigned point values to stressful events in people’s lives. Pregnancy, while only netting 40 points, is considered to be more stress-inducing than the death of a close friend, a significant change in your financial state, or a foreclosure on your mortgage or loan. One of the more stressful choices comes right at the beginning of your pregnancy: what to do about it. You need information from reliable sources to make this decision. Finding pregnancy resources Knoxville, TN, or women’s clinics in Missoula, MT, is a simple web search. Exploring your options takes a bit more.

Soul Searching

You may be one of those people who already know all your pregnancy options. You may have already decided pre-pregnancy as to which you’d choose. If so, reading on will do little more than reinforce your decisions. For many women, though, pregnancy catches us off guard. In that event, we need to take an honest look at our lives to see how pregnancy and subsequent motherhood fit in. In addition, some people aren’t prepared to become parents and don’t want to think about terminating a pregnancy. For those people, adoption can be a great solution.

Adoption

Despite the horror stories of adoptive children being ‘returned,’ most aren’t like that. Most adoptions are successful because the adoptive parents genuinely believe that love, not blood, is the foundation of their family. People with that point of view don’t allow circumstances of birth or differing skin colors to define who they can love. Instead, they truly open both their hearts and homes to the children they adopt.

While each state has its own laws regarding adoptions, there are some general truths upon which you can count when you are considering adoption. Adoption agencies in each state help the expectant parents prepare for the eventual adoption of the child by exploring the options available state-to-state. You’ll need to approach an agency licensed by your state and ask about the services they either provide or with which they connect you. In addition, you’ll need an attorney with adoption experience. You’ll also need to choose your healthcare provider and the hospital or clinic where you’ll give birth to provide them with the information on your adoption plan.

There are variables you may encounter with adoption. Some states allow you to participate in choosing the prospective adoptive parents. Once those parents are chosen, your state may have statutes in place which enable the adoptive parents to pay for costs, including your prenatal care, your attorney, your adoption agency fees, and any counseling you may need post-birth.

There are questions to ask both yourself and the prospective adoptive parents. If you’d like to contact your child post-adoption, you must spell that out up front. There are many levels of contact upon which you and the adoptive parents can potentially agree. Some birth parents want no contact at all. Others would like pictures with a specific frequency. Still, other families have agreed upon visitation. Be honest to find adoptive parents with the same philosophy as you.

Getting all the information you can as quickly as possible will help you decide if adoption is an option for you.