The First Steps in Placing a Child for Adoption

First, decide whether you want to place your child for adoption or raise your child yourself.  While you are deciding, make sure to continue to take good care of yourself and your baby. Contact a physician and start prenatal care as soon as possible. If you need help finding a physician or getting an appointment for prenatal care, let us know and we will help you find one . Keep your doctor and clinic appointments.

Try to avoid drugs and alcohol, and smoking.  Check with your doctor about continuing to take prescription medication.

Move ahead with the child adoption process at your own pace and establish the adoption in a way in which you are comfortable. Remember, it is your baby and you have all the choices, so take your time!

If anyone ever pressures you, just end your conversation with them and move on. Don't worry about them. Your only concern is to see that your needs and your baby's needs are taken care of.

I advise you not to answer newspaper ads, adopting family internet ads, deal directly with the adopting family, the adopting family's attorney, or a child adoption facilitator. These are all called private adoptions and these can be very risky. So risky that in many states, private adoptions are not legal because of the dangers involved.

Finally, contact us at Adoption Services, or another non-profit, fully licensed child adoption agency, and let us help you.  Whether it is our agency or some other program,  a licensed child adoption agency can help you and protect you and your child. You'll still be in charge, but the child adoption agency can help you avoid the problems you can face by contacting an adopting family directly.

If you decide to contact us at Adoption Services, we are here to help you 365 days a year and 24 hours a day.  Just call toll free, 1-800-943-0400, and we will listen with compassion and do all that is needed to help you.

The following information is based on the Child Welfare Information Gateway article, Are You Pregnant and Thinking About Adoption?

Who Can I Talk to About My Options?

If you want to talk to a professional about your child adoption options, there are different places you can go. Counseling at the places listed below will be free or cost very little.

• Crisis pregnancy centers
• Family planning clinics are places where women get birth control information or pregnancy tests.
• Adoption agencies are a good choice if you are already leaning in the direction of adoption.
• Health Department or Social Services (Child Welfare) Offices
• Mental health centers or family service agencies.

Have I explored all possibilities?

Pregnancy can affect your feelings and emotions. Are you only thinking about child adoption because you have money problems, or because your living situation is difficult? These problems might be temporary. Have you called Social Services to see what they can do, or asked friends and family if they can help? If you have done these things and still want adoption, you will feel more content with your decision.

Will the adoptive parents take good care of my child?

Prospective adoptive parents are carefully screened and give a great deal of information about themselves. By the time an agency has approved adoptive parents for placement, they have gotten to know them very well, and feel confident they would make good parents. In many cases you can select or help to select the family.

What are the different types of child adoption?

There are two types of child adoption: closed and open adoption.

Closed ( Confidential): The birth parents and the adoptive parents never know each other. Adoptive parents are given background information about you and the birth father that they would need to help them take care of the child, such as medical information.

Open: The birth parents and the adoptive parents know something about each other. There are different levels of openness:

• Least open-You will read about several possible adoptive families and pick the one that sounds best for your baby. You will not know each other's names.
• More open-You and the possible adoptive family will speak on the telephone and exchange first names.
• Even more open-You can meet the possible adoptive family. Your social worker or attorney will arrange the meeting at the adoption agency or attorney's office.
• Most open-You and the adoptive parents share your full names, addresses, and telephone numbers. You stay in contact with the family and your child over the years, by visiting, calling, or writing each other. Fifteen States have enacted laws that recognize post-adoption contact between adoptive and birth families if the parties have voluntarily agreed to this plan.

Talk to your adoption agency counselor about the type of child adoption that is best for you.

How do I arrange an child adoption through a child adoption agency?

In all States, you can work with a licensed child placing (adoption) agency and in many states you can also work directly with an adopting couple or their attorney without using a child adoption agency.  In some states this type of adoption, a private adoption, is not legal.  Private licensed child adoption agencies arrange most child adoptions.  There are several types of private child adoption agencies. Some are for profit and some are non-profit.  When you contact a child adoption agency, ask the staff as many questions as you need to ask so that you understand the child adoption agency's policies.

How do I arrange for future contact with my child if I want it?

If you decide on a confidential (closed) child adoption, you may still wish to make sure that your child can contact you in the future. There are things you can do now to make that happen.

Many people who are adopted as children later want to meet their birth parents. With the exception of Alabama, Alaska, Delaware, Kansas, Oregon, and Tennessee, state laws do not permit them to see their original birth certificate. Because of these problems, many States, and some private national organizations, have set up child adoption registries to help people find one another.

There is another way to ensure that your child can contact you if he or she wishes. Some child adoption agencies and attorneys who arrange child adoptions will hold a letter in their file in which you say why you chose adoption and how to get in touch with you if the child ever wants to. If the agency or attorney that you are working with will not agree to do this, you may wish to work with somebody else.

Adoption Services is a fully licensed non-profit adoption agency that helps birth mothers living in any state in the U.S. The Agency can also help a U.S. citizen living in any foreign country. Adoption Services has helped over 9000 birth parents and families. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions or if you want our guidance or help.  We can make sure your child is placed with the perfect family, your rights are protected, and that you receive all the financial assistance and medical help as well as other types of help that the law allows. There is never any fee to you as a birth parent whether you work with our agency or decide to look elsewhere.  Please visit the link "Ways we can help you".