If you’re pregnant and wondering about making an adoption plan for your baby, you might consider open adoption. Ask yourself these questions:
- Do I want to be able to choose who will raise my child?
- Do I want to see my child grow up through photos, calls, emails, and/or visits?
- Do I want to be able to share with my child about their family background and other important info?
- Do I want my child to know if they look or act like someone else in the family?
If your answer to any of these questions was “yes,” open adoption may be the best choice for you and your child. But what exactly IS open adoption? It’s a type of adoption that allows you to know and have contact with your child and the adoptive parents you’ve chosen. You and the adoptive couple can stay in touch in way that feels comfortable. Some adoptive families send pictures and brief notes to their birth mothers. Others have in-person visits and even celebrate holidays together. The amount and type of contact (and how often it happens) depends on the wishes of everyone involved, and may change over time.
Open adoption may give you comfort: you can be sure your child will know about their family history, identity, and background. And, they’ll know about you and the choice you made out of love for them, recognizing that you weren’t able to parent at the time.
Open adoption may not be the right path for everyone. By learning more about your choices, you can decide what’s right for you and your child. When you feel ready, call Lifetime Adoption at 1-800-923-6784. Or you can email us too. Requesting a free Adoption Planning Kit is a great way to learn more about open adoption. In it is a short book about adoption, a magazine, a DVD, brochures, and more. It’ll arrive in an unmarked envelope, so no one will know you’re getting adoption info if you’re keeping it a secret right now. Click to get your 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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