Creating an Adoption Plan as a Birth Mother with Adoption Choices of New York
When you choose adoption and an adoption agency in New York, you might begin to hear the words “adoption plan” often, but not really know what it entails. The adoption process can seem overwhelming at first, but creating an adoption plan will help you see things as a step-by-step process. Something you can envision. Have control over.
At Adoption Choices of New York, we will help you create your adoption plan and make sure your adoption journey is a positive one.
What is an adoption plan anyway?
An adoption plan is an outline that describes your personal goals for your pregnancy, yourself, and your child’s future. While the choices you outline in your adoption plan are based on your preferences, you are not alone in decision making. Our adoption counselors will help you along the way as you make choices for you and your baby.
If you get anxious about decision-making, don’t worry. An adoption plan is not necessarily set in stone. It’s a tentative plan for the future. To help when, as we know, things don’t go exactly as anticipated. You’ll never be pressured to make any one decision, and can always change aspects of your plan. Adoption is about you, your baby, and making sure your baby is placed with a fantastic adoptive family.
In your adoption plan, you will decide the type of adoption you prefer, your adoptive family preferences, how your hospital experience will go, and any post-placement choices.
What types of adoption are there?
When choosing adoption, you may wonder how much contact you’d like with the adoptive family and your child post adoption. You can choose between a closed, open or semi-open adoption. If you want to maintain the privacy of yourself and the adoptive family, you might want a closed adoption. There is no contact between you and the adoptive family. Some birth mothers might prefer this, if they want more clearly defined lines in adoption relationships and are not interested in future contact with their child or the adoptive family.
However, semi-open and open adoptions are becoming more common — especially in domestic infant adoption. In a semi-open adoption, privacy is maintained as much as possible and you would be able to communicate with the adoptive family. You can receive updates about your child through a secure and confidential online resource our agency uses called ChildConnect. Any other communication can be facilitated through your adoption caseworker. .
In both open and semi-open adoption, you’re able to decide how frequent you’d like communication to be. You’ll come to this agreement with your child’s adoptive family, but communication preferences can always be altered as you see fit.
In an open adoption, there is potential to meet with the adoptive family and possibly your child; your relationship is defined by you and the adoptive family. The adoptee is often very aware that he or she is adopted and has no confusion about where they came from. You and the adoptive family can interact directly. If you feel knowing about your child’s wellbeing will provide you with some comfort, this kind of adoption may work for you. There is also a chance to have some sort of relationship with your child, but this is not guaranteed.
How do I choose an adoptive family?
Part of creating an adoption plan is choosing your preferences for your child’s adoptive family. Adoption Choices of New York will provide you with official profiles of prospective adoptive families to choose from. Then, you’ll be able to read about each family, see pictures and learn about what kind of life they could offer your child.
At some point, you may be able to speak with some potential families. This way, you can ask them questions relating to your personal preferences and get a general feel for the type of people they are. What kind of family do you envision for your child? A big family? A religious family? A family who is focused on their children’s education? In this part of the adoption plan, you can figure out what the adoptive family preferences are, so when it comes to choosing, you know exactly where your child fits in.
What is a hospital plan?
As part of the hospital plan, you can decide whether you’ll receive pain medication, what hospital you will deliver your baby at, who your doctor will be, and more. You’ll also decide how much time you would like to spend with your baby after he or she is born.
Some birth mothers do not think they can emotionally handle being with their child before relinquishment, but many like to spend time with their baby before placement is finalized. Some birth mothers choose to nurse their baby and spend time with the adoptive family in the hospital. You are empowered to make these choices for yourself. It’s all based on what you feel is the right thing to do for you and your baby.
What about after my baby is placed?
After your child is born, you may feel like you’re alone. But there are other mothers like you who have chosen adoption. Our adoption specialists can help you connect with other birth mothers and support groups, so you have other people to speak with about your shared experience. Additionally, if you have chosen an open or semi-open adoption, communication between you and the adoptive family can begin as soon as you both have decided you are ready.
At Adoption Choices of New York, we are dedicated to helping you through your adoption journey. Nobody should go through it alone. We’ll help you with creating an adoption plan that brings you the best adoption experience as is possible. Adoption Choices of New York is available to assist with your adoption plan. Call us, text us, email us; we are here for you!
Contact Us 24/7: 800-505-8592 (Phone) | 518-478-8420 | Click to Email
Meet the Author: Tara Giuffre has always loved reading and writing and grew up in the worlds of Narnia, Harry Potter and A Series of Unfortunate Events. Taking this passion for stories, she received a degree from Rutgers University in Journalism & Media. Besides writing, she likes long walks on the beach, spending time with her family (and her cat, Sansa), and baking the perfect loaf of bread.
She enjoys sharing vital information about adoption and birth mothers choosing adoption to families making important choices for their future family!
