We realize how much you love your baby, even if you are not yet ready to be a parent. We know that you may be feeling frightened and confused as you consider your options. An unplanned pregnancy can be an overwhelming life crisis. Accepting responsibility for one’s choices is important, but total responsibility for a baby can often be too much to handle.

You and your unborn baby are important, valuable human beings with rights and individual needs. We care about you and want to offer you the respect, assistance and support you need to meet this life challenge. We know you are facing what may be the greatest challenge of your life. You don’t have to face it alone. Let us help.

Our services are free and confidential. What you’ll find below are answers to some of the questions about adoption that you might have at this moment. If you have other specific questions you’d like our Adoptions Counselor to answer for you, e-mail her at AdoptionsCounselor@gmail.com or call 1-888-629-KIDS.

Adoption Language
When you make an adoption plan for your child, you are making a responsible decision, choosing a family and planning your child’s future. But sometimes the language and concepts used by professionals can feel confusing. We’ll help you understand what each part of the process means. In an adoption, you are matched after you have selected a family, met with them and consider them to be the right family for you and your child.

Signing Consents
This is the term used when you sign the legal adoption documents 48 hours after your child is born. This is also called relinquishment.

Termination of Parental Rights
Termination of parental rights is the legal process that happens after you sign the adoption consents. Your parental rights must be removed in order for the adoptive parents to become the full legal parents of your child.

Home Study
A Home Study is a thorough evaluation that all adoptive couples must have completed before a child can be placed in their home. Post-placement visits are follow-up visits all adoptive couples must complete before an adoption can be finalized.

Finalization
Finalization is the last legal step in the adoption process. The court reviews the home study and all legal documents, ensuring that each step in the process has been completed properly. When the adoption is finalized, a new birth certificate will be issued for your child with the last name of the adoptive family and the first name given by them as well.

Openness
Openness refers to the ongoing relationship that you as birth parent may choose to have with the adoptive couple you select. There are varying degrees of openness in adoption. How much openness is right for you is something you will certainly want to explore with your adoption counselor.

Who is involved in the decision to choose adoption?
The decision belongs to you, but often other people are affected by your pregnancy and the outcome. Your family may have strong feelings about what they think is best. The baby’s father may want to be involved in making the decision. Your friends will have advice for you. It can get very confusing. Ultimately, the decision is yours. The role of your adoption counselor is to help you work through these different ideas and to help you develop the best plan for you and your baby.

Is adoption a good decision?
How can a mother who loves her baby make an adoption plan? “Love” is a powerful feeling that is often confused with the need to hold onto someone. Decisions based solely on emotion can steer anyone in a wrong direction. There is a greater love than the kind that wants to hold on at any cost. It is the kind of love that makes you able to get through the pain of letting go because you want your baby to have what you are not able to give. There is a good feeling that comes along with knowing you have made a good decision.

How can I know my baby will be in a good home?
The short answer is that you will choose that home and family. Naturally, you want to know that your baby will be in the very best home that can be found. That's what it means for you to be a good and caring birth parent. And that is why adoptive parents are very carefully screened at LIFE FOR KIDS to meet the highest possible standards. We place babies only with Christian families who are emotionally, financially and spiritually stable. Your adoption counselor will help you by making sure you have lots of in-depth information about prospective adoptive families and their homes as you make your decision.

Will my child hate me for planning an adoption?
Every birth mother who explores adoption asks herself this question. Adopted children usually ask many questions about their birth parents and the circumstances surrounding their adoption. As they grow, they wonder why the decision was made and may need to reconcile feelings of loss and issues of identity as an adopted person. Statistically, adopted persons do as well as, if not better than their peers. Most adult adoptees come to realize that their birth mothers loved them and wanted the best for them and are grateful for the love that motivated the action of placing them with an adoptive family. This love is reinforced by their adoptive parents. When you have openness in your adoption process, you are able to express your love for your child more directly and explain your reasons for choosing adoption.

What if I need medical or financial assistance?
Please, feel free to discuss these very real needs with your adoption counselor. It is normal for adoptive couples to help with some medical or living expenses when it is appropriate. However, be very cautious about receiving funds. Your decision for adoption is not complete until after your baby is born. Sometimes women feel pressure to complete an adoption plan when financial assistance has been provided to them directly. Involving an experienced agency like LIFE FOR KIDS in your adoptive process means that we can act as the go-between and make sure that you feel free in your decision-making all the way along.