Adoption
Adoption Options:
Making an informed decision regarding your pregnancy includes exploring all the options, maybe even one you never thought you would consider: Adoption. While it is difficult to think about carrying your baby for nine months only to place them with someone else to raise him/her, adoption can be one of the best choices to benefit both you and your child.
Adoption is a courageous and loving decision, not an act of abandonment or the “easy way out.” Through choosing adoption, you will be able to invest in your child’s future by providing them with a loving home that can meet all of their needs in a way that you might not be able to provide. Placing a baby for adoption is one of the most unselfish, loving acts a birth mother can do. It takes a lot of love to make a plan for adoption, and you can be as involved in the adoption planning process as you want to ensure your child is in the best home environment he or she deserves.
There are several options available to you through adoption.
For example, you can choose to see your baby on a regular basis, or receive updates and pictures about your baby. You can even pick the exact family you want for your baby. If you would like to talk with someone who has placed her baby for adoption, or talk to someone to decide whether adoption is right for you, please contact us at 417-532-8555 or email us questions on our contact us page.
Adoption Basics
Before making your decision, it is important that you understand your rights as a birthmother and the roles of everyone involved in the adoption process. You also need to know that parenting and adoption share similarities and differences. When you choose to parent, you choose to have a relationship with your child.
The Adoption Circle:
There are three main roles in the adoption process: the birthmother (you), your child, and the adoptive parents. According to Missouri state law, you have to give consent to place your baby for adoption-no one can require you to place without your consent. The baby’s biological father’s consent is required only if he has established paternity within 15 days of the child’s birth.To better understand the adoption process, it helps to know each role.
Birthmother (& Father): The birthparents are the biological parents of the child. The most common reason birthparents consider adoption is they believe that they cannot adequately provide all for all of their child’s needs. Birthparents may wait until after the baby is born before deciding to place for adoption, as they may discover that their child needs more than they are able to provide. While they love their child, the birthparents are willing to make a very courageous and unselfish decision to make sure all of their child’s needs are met and the child can have the best life possible.
Child: Once the birthparents have decided to place for adoption, they must relinquish, or surrender, their parental rights to legally release the child for adoption. Any child under the age of 18 can be placed for adoption, regardless of physical condition.
Adoptive Parents: Adoptive parents choose to adopt for various reasons. Some are struggling with infertility issues and cannot have children of their own, some want to add-on to their existing family, and others want to adopt based on their own personal values and beliefs. Whatever the reason they want to adopt, all adoptive parents have to go through an extensive screening process to prove that they are able to provide well for all of the child’s financial, emotional, and physical needs.
Your Rights
As a birthmother, you play the most important role in the adoption process. Therefore, it is important that you know and understand your rights to ensure that you have a positive adoption experience.
As a birthmother you have the right to:
Types of Adoption:
Open Adoption: an adoption in which the birthparents and the adoptive parents meet one another, share full identifying information (address, phone number, etc.), and maintain open contact throughout the years following the adoption. The degree of openness varies according to the wishes of the birthparents. A completely open adoption allows the birthparents to visit their child, while a semi-closed open adoption may limit contact to pictures and letters.
Semi-Open Adoption: an adoption in which all contact between the adoptive parents and the birthparents occurs through the use of a facilitator (adoption agency, lawyer, etc.). Birthparents and adoptive parents may exchange letters, photos, or meet on a first name only basis. Contact is maintained three or four times a year for a few years, but not on an ongoing basis.
Closed Adoption: an adoption in which there is no contact between the birthparents and the adoptive parents, at the request of the birthparents. Typically, the baby is left at the hospital with the social worker, who takes the baby to the adoptive parents. It is not as common as the other forms of adoption, but it is still done.
Agency Adoption: an adoption through an adoption agency. The birthmother would be assigned a social worker or counselor who will walk with her through the entire process, as well as provide counseling through her pregnancy and after. The birthmother will be able to look through files on potential adoptive families that have been screened and approved by the adoption agency to choose the best adoptive family for her child.
Court Adoption: an adoption that is arranged legally through the court.
Private Adoption: an adoption arranged through a private attorney or physician working with an attorney.
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Parenting
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