What Adoption Plan is Best for Me?
Not sure which adoption plan is best for you? Afraid of where your child will go and who the parents will be? While adoption is not an easy decision to make, it shouldn’t be one to stress about. The decision to find adoptive parents and which adoption plan to choose can generate many questions. Today we want to help answer those questions and help you make the best decision, for your future and your baby’s. If you are still wondering if adoption is the right decision, ask yourself these questions.
All three adoption plans share a collective interest in the birth parents’ rights which birth parents should be aware of. Consequently, these could help many birth parents that are apprehensive about moving forward in their decision for adoption to find assurance that an adoption agency will care for them well.
You have rights.
- ACCEPTANCE: The birth parents may speak about their options in a welcome and safe environment. No adoption agency should make them feel coerced to decide on any plan.
- INFORMED: Birth parents have the right to be informed about every decision being made by their adoption associate and adoptive parents.
- INVOLVEMENT: Birth parents may invite family or friends to join them in meetings regarding their adoption plan.
- EXERCISING RIGHTS: Birth parents have the option of changing to a different adoption agency if they feel that they have been discriminated against or that any other rights have been violated.
- POWER: The birth parents are in charge of their adoption option plan. They have the option of spending time with your baby, naming him/her, and choosing what kind of relationship you want to have with the child and adoptive parents.
Consequently, one thing we should note is that Open Adoption is not co-parenting. You have every right to decide to parent before you give over rights to your child, but Open Adoption means that you, the birth parent(s), have decided to be a part of your child’s life in a limited way. You and your child can live a life with a beautiful future because you made the brave decision to give him/her great parents. It’s all your choice.
As said in Bethany’s brochure entitled “Pregnant? Now What?” when you choose open adoption, you also choose to accept “the entire adoptive family and build a relationship centered on what is best for the child, whom they all love”. (pg 10). For more information, visit Bravelove.org. Brave Love is a nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring that all birth mothers considering adoption get the information she needs to make a decision with confidence.