Are you facing an unplanned pregnancy? The first question in your mind is probably “what should I do next?” We’re not here to push a particular decision on you, or promote a particular view point. We’re here to help, in whatever way we can. That’s why our best answer to that question is learn.
Facing An Unplanned Pregnancy: First Steps
Find out as much as you can about each. Speak with women who have been in your situation, and learn what choices they made and why. Most importantly, find out how they feel now, after having decided.
Seek out an experienced counselor in your area and speak honestly about your hopes and fears. Evaluate your own situation, your desires for the future and current resources. Are you ready to parent your baby? There is no shame in deciding that you are not; in many cases, it is the strongest decision.
Why Choose Adoption?
Each of your three options has its own benefits and risks. This is a decision you will have to live with for the rest of your life. It’s important to be as comfortable with your choices as possible, before you make them final.
One of your options is adoption. By placing your baby for adoption, you can provide them with the home that you feel they deserve. Choosing adoption is not easy, but it may be the right option for you. To learn more, visit our Adoption Options page.
Types Of Adoption
There are two primary forms of adoption: open and closed.
In a closed adoption, biological parents and prospective adoptive parents decide not to have contact with one another, either before or after placement.
Open adoptions allow biological parents to contact and meet prospective adoptive parents if they wish. In many open adoptions, birth parents choose the adoptive parents before their baby is born. In some cases, birth parents can visit their biological children after placement, and maintain a healthy relationship with their child long into the future.
Why Choose Open Adoption?
Adoptions From The Heart was instrumental in pioneering the practice of open adoption on the East Coast in the 1980s. Since then, through our personal experience, we’ve found that open adoption offers benefits to all members of the adoption triad: birth mothers, adoptive parents, and children.
Every open adoption is different, and the level of “openness” will vary from case to case. Below you will find some potential advantages that open adoption offers:
Open Adoption’s Benefits For Your Child
- Identity – Most open adoptions allow adopted children a certain amount of access to their biological family’s history. With this information, your child will be in a better position to answer questions like “where did I come from?” and “who am I?”
- Greater Sense Of Being Loved – Because many adopted children are in contact with their birth parents in an open adoption, they will be able to learn first-hand that your decision to place them for adoption was made out of love. You can explain exactly why you chose adoption. This can help reduce the feeling of abandonment that some adoptees deal with.
- Eliminates Need To Search – For a number of reasons, many children who were adopted in closed adoptions feel a need to seek out their biological parents later in life. The increased contact in an open adoption can help eliminate the feeling that their lives are “unfinished” or “incomplete,” because they know their birth parents.
- Access To Medical History – Although birth parents’ medical records are usually a prerequisite for the adoption process, open adoption allows medical records to be updated with any new conditions that may present themselves.
Open Adoptions Benefits For Biological Parents
- Increased Control In The Adoption Process – With open adoption, you will be able to review, meet, and choose an adoptive family for your baby. This can be empowering, and make you feel comfortable with the home that your biological child will receive.
- Reduced Grief – Many birth parents experience deep feelings of loss, or mourning, after the placement of their biological children. Being able to contact your baby’s adoptive family, and receive information about their well-being, may help you feel more comfortable with your choice.
- Developing Relationships – The main benefit of open adoption for birth parents may be the ability to develop positive relationships with your biological child and their adoptive family.
Open Adoptions Benefits For The Adoptive Parents
- Encouragement – Because adoptive families are often chosen by birth parents in an open adoption, adoptive parents know that they were chosen specifically because of their positive qualities.
- Relationship With The Birth Parents – Open adoption allows adoptive parents the opportunity to develop a positive relationship with their adopted child’s biological parents.
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