Choosing adoption for your baby can be a tough parenting choice, but it shows you love and care for your child. Here are some of the many benefits for you of placing your child through open adoption:
- Having the end say in who will parent your child
- Security in knowing that your child will grow up safe, healthy, and loved
- Counseling as you deal with feelings of grief and loss that might come after placement
- Having a personal relationship with your child and the adoptive parents you’ve chosen
- Greater satisfaction with the adoption process
Birth fathers, grandparents, and other members of your family can also benefit from communication with the adopted child and/or the adoptive family. As one adoptive couple shared, “We celebrate our daughter’s birthday with all of our friends and relatives, including his birth mother—it feels like she’s a part of our family now.”
How does open adoption benefit your baby?
Open adoption can give your child a sense of connection and wholeness. Having an open adoption arrangement can answer many of the questions adopted children have: Who am I? What are my birth parents like? Why was I placed for adoption?
Here some are the ways that open adoption is good for your child:
- He/she knows about you and your family, so they don’t need to wonder about and search for you
- None to very little of the feelings of secrecy and shame about being adopted
- Being able to ask you questions firsthand
- A sense of belonging with the adoptive couple you’ve chosen
- Being connected his or her cultural and ethnic background and ancestry
- Access to important medical information, such as factors that can lead to disease, or medical conditions that exist in your family
- An understanding of the reasons that you made an adoption plan
- Knowing that he or she looks like someone from your family, or has features that come from a blood relative
If you’re ready to learn more about open adoption, a great way to get started is to request our FREE Adoption Planning Kit!
As Vice President of Lifetime Adoption, Heather Featherston holds an MBA and is passionate about working with those facing adoption, pregnancy, and parenting issues. Heather has conducted training for birth parent advocates, spoken to professional groups, and has appeared on television and radio to discuss the multiple aspects of adoption. She has provided one-on-one support to women and hopeful adoptive parents working through adoption decisions.
Since 2002, she has been helping pregnant women and others in crisis to learn more about adoption. Heather also trains and speaks nationwide to pregnancy clinics to effectively meet the needs of women who want to explore adoption for their child. Today, she continues to address the concerns women have about adoption and supports the needs of women who choose adoption for their child.
As a published author of the book Called to Adoption, Featherston loves to see God’s hand at work every day as she helps children and families come together through adoption.
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