If you’re pregnant and wondering about adoption for your baby, you might be wondering what it’s like. Lifetime is here to help you during every step of your adoption plan. The process can be confusing at first, so know that we’re available 24/7 to walk you through it.
Today, we’re sharing how the adoption process works in 5 steps. Here are the 5 steps you’ll take if you’re making an adoption plan for your baby:
1. Contact an Adoption Center
To begin the process, you’ll contact an adoption professional. Our caring, Christian coordinators are here to let you know what your choices are with open adoption. By knowing all that you can, you’ll be better able to determine if adoption’s right for you and your baby.
2. Provide Information
Your Adoption Coordinator will help you one-on-one and will need to ask you questions about yourself and your situation. We encourage you to share as much as you can, especially about your health history. The health information you share will be so useful to the adoptive couple and also to your child.
3. Create a Plan
We’re here to help as you create an adoption plan that’s customized to your wants and needs. You have lots of choices, such as the adoptive family for your baby, how much contact you’d like in the future, as well as how much contact you hope to have with your child.
4. Select Adoptive Parents
Lifetime encourages you to think about what you need in your baby’s parents. Is it important to you that the adoptive couple follow the same religion as you? Are you hoping that your child can be raised in a family with a stay-at-home mom? Maybe you’d like a couple who are the same race as you. You can get really specific with what you’re looking for in an adoptive couple. Luckily, we have hundreds of adoptive parents to choose from!
After you’ve let Lifetime know what you’re hoping for, we will send you profile booklets about the adoptive couples. And not to worry, we’ll mail them in an unmarked package, in case you’re keeping your adoption plans confidential. You’ll need to select your top choice adoptive family, and then we’ll set up a phone call for you to interview them. This can really help when you’re wondering if they’re a good fit for your baby.
5. Get Counseling
Lifetime can connect you with a licensed counselor to speak with at no cost to you. The therapist isn’t trying to talk you into adoption. Rather, she’s there to help as you go through some pretty intense emotions.
Lifetime encourages you to talk with one of our peer counselors, too. You can talk with a woman who made an adoption plan, as she knows what you’re going through right now. It’s smart to get counseling before your baby’s born and afterward too. It can really help you unpack all the emotions you’re facing.
