When you’re thinking about adoption for your baby, it can help to hear from others who have been in your shoes. By reading other women’s stories, you’ll find their reasons for choosing adoption as well as the emotions, relationships, and opportunities these women had during the adoption process.
Today, we’re sharing Lauren’s adoption story. We hope that it will give you insight and perspective as you think about starting your own adoption journey.
“Some people told me that I was selfish for adopting out my baby,” Lauren says. “Some even tried to talk me out of it. But I had to do what was best for my son. By talking with others, I realized that I wasn’t alone and that others had the same feelings and experiences.”
Adoption is a decision Lauren didn’t take lightly. “At the time, I was jobless and didn’t have a place of my own. I couldn’t ask my parents who were up there in age to be responsible for helping me raise a newborn,” she says. “Plus, I didn’t have any support from the father, who denied that the baby was even his.”
Wanting a better life for her child, Lauren says that she began to search for an adoption agency. She found Lifetime’s website, and the Adoption Coordinator she connected with laid out all of Lauren’s options, including open adoption in which a birth mother could have a limited role in her child’s life.
For Lauren, that was a good fit. “I wanted him to be a part of my life still,” Lauren says. After she chose adoptive parents for her baby, Lauren discussed future contact with them. They all came to an agreement that Lauren would receive updates on her son through emails, and they’d all visit in person once a year. Even though she sees her son through annual visits, Lauren says it’s still hard to walk away.
While it doesn’t take away the pain, Lauren is grateful to have bits and pieces of her son’s life. She smiles as she shares a picture on her cell phone, her son now a toddler with a saucy grin splashed across his face. She is comforted by the fact that her child is growing up in a loving family.
But she admits the pain of living without her child sneaks up on her at times. “It’s still hard on Mother’s Day and other holidays, but I’m healing,” Lauren says softly. “I don’t regret my decision for a minute. I know where he is, and I couldn’t ask for a better life for him.”
Would you like to learn more about choosing adoption? Just call or text Lifetime at 1-800-923-6784, or request free info online.
