Your journey through an unexpected pregnancy is a truly personal one. Only you understand your situation and what’s best for your future. There is good news. You have options and one of them is adoption. This article will help you understand more specifically about the open adoption option.
Making An Adoption Plan
Adoption is a lifelong parenting relationship for a child. It is not a situation of “shared custody” or “co-parenting.” It means you have decided to put the needs of your child first.
No matter where you are in your parenting journey, adoption can be the right choice.
Some birth mothers or birth families realize they are unable to parent their child weeks, months, or even years after they’ve made the choice to do so. Other women make an adoption plan for their child even before giving birth. Neither choice makes a woman any less of a mother.
When creating an adoption plan for your child, you work closely with an agency or an attorney. Through them, you choose the adoptive family, the overall environment you want for your child, and the amount of contact you wish to have with the new family. Of course, you can also let the adoption coordinator choose the family for you.
Open Adoption
An open adoption plan builds a strong bond between you, your child, and the adoptive family. The birth family literally becomes an extension of the adoptive family, creating relationships that benefit everyone.
You can choose to exchange all identifying information such as full names, phone numbers, emails, and addresses or limit contact to just phone calls or FB messages. You and the adoptive family agree on the type of relationship you wish to have. By being involved in your child’s new family, you can explain that you chose adoption out of love for them.
In the beginning, birth parents and the adoptive couple often feel an awkward tension which is understandable. A birth mother worries the adoptive family won’t recognize her as a mother. The adoptive family fears the relationship will be too confusing for their child. Don’t worry if it sounds a bit overwhelming. Adoption, no matter what type you choose, requires all parties to trust one another before, during, and after placement.
Help During Your Journey
At Boston Center for Pregnancy Choices, we are available to listen and provide information to assist you in making your decision. We want to discuss your current situation with you and how we might help now and in the future.
Contact us today and set up an appointment to look more closely at the option of adoption. Our services are always free!
No one can or should make this decision for you, but we can help. At this very moment, you are writing the next chapter of your life’s story. We know it will be beautiful.
