Overview
Adoption is a truly brave decision. Even if a mother is not ready to be a mom, a mother can be strong and brave. She can turn nine months into a lifetime, and turn a couple into a family.
Friends, family, and even strangers can be eager to tell you what to do, but your situation is different from everyone else’s, and only YOU know all the issues that are being thrown at you.
How Do I Put Up My Baby for Adoption? Honestly, we don’t use the phrase, “put my baby up for adoption” anymore. It is so much more honoring to the child to say, “place my baby with adoptive parents.” (more on that later….)
Here’s how the adoption process works at Aggieland Pregnancy Outreach:
- Counseling First: As with any big decision, it is important to explore all your options. We’ll help you investigate parenting and marriage as other options to consider.
- Choosing: You have several choices to make for yourself and your child. APO offers Open Adoption which allows you to choose the adoptive family that seems right to you.
You will view Life Books of our adoptive families and meet the one(s) that you like the best. Meeting the couple in person really helps you know if they are the right ones for you and your child. When you are sure about a family, we call that a “match!”
- Relationship Building: From the time of the match until the baby is born, there is a great opportunity for you and the prospective adoptive couple to get to know one another better.
Hospital Experience: This can be a very emotional time. Your counselor will be with you just as much (or as little) as you want. After delivery, you can see your baby, hold your baby, name your baby, etc. You are the mother!
That sounds so obvious, but it’s just a reminder that although you have made an adoption plan, it is only a plan until you make a final decision for adoption. That decision cannot be made until the baby is at least 48 hours old.
- Placement: We use the term “placing” your baby for adoption and not “giving up” your baby. Words are powerful. Parents provide for their children. By placing your baby in an adoptive family, you are providing for your baby by giving him/her a two-parent family.
- Entrustment: We can help you plan an Entrustment Ceremony to commemorate this sacred event. This can be as simple as exchanging some heartfelt words with the family about your hopes and dreams for your child. It can be a time of blessings. It can be very small in the privacy of your hospital room or you can invite family and friends to join you in a chapel, at APO, or anywhere that is meaningful to you.
- After the adoption: APO stays part of your support network for as long as you want. The grief after placement can be intense and we will be there to help you through it!
