Blog | Considering Adoption

Adoptee Rights

Adoption can give children a beautiful family, but adoptees in closed adoptions often still have questions about their background. Adoptee rights law varies from state to state, but this article will give an overview of what to expect as an adoptee seeking adoption information about your rights and why open adoption is increasingly common. You can click here to get adoption information from an adoption professional.

What Rights Does an Adopted Child Have?

Adoptee rights vary from state to state, but these are some of the common rights that an adoptee may have:

A right to a safe environment: adoptees have the right to be placed in an environment that promotes their well-being and is safe.
Right to be treated with dignity: adoptees have the right to be treated with the same dignity and fairness as any other person.
Right to access information: adoptees sometimes have access to access information about birth families, in some cases, medical history, background, and cultural heritage. The extent of this law depends on local guidelines.
Right to know about adoption status: adoptees have the right to know that they have been adopted and to be informed of what adoption means.
Right to privacy: adoptees have a right to privacy, including the protection of identifying details in some cases.
Right to medical history: an adoptee may have the right to access the birth family’s medical history, which can be important in understanding the adoptee’s health and making health decisions.
Right to post-adoption support: the adoptee may have a right to post-adoption support like therapy or counseling.

Adoptee Rights by State

Since adoptee rights are outlined through state and local laws as well as federal laws, the best way to learn more about your rights is by getting in contact with a local family or adoption lawyer.

Adoptee Rights Organizations

Adoptee rights organizations advocate for the interests of adoptees and work to protect and promote their rights. These organizations can raise awareness and push for changes, as well as providing support to adoptees and their families.

As an adoptee you may find that these organizations lobby, create awareness campaigns, offer support services, do research and promote education, offer legal assistance, and even offer opportunities for connections and network building. Some organizations that participate in this type of work are the Adoption Rights Coalition and the Adoptee Rights Law Center.

Open Adoption and Adoptee Rights

Movements for adopted child’s rights often advocate for adoptees right to access information, the right to know your adoption status, and the right to know your medical history through birth parent records.

While these rights play an important role in closed adoptions, more and more modern adoptions are open adoptions, and many open adoption plans already include communication and information transfer between birth parents, adoptive families, and adoptees. Adoptee rights laws can affirm the goals of open adoption and add to the rights of adoptees in closed adoptions. Open adoptions have the additional benefit to everyone that you can maintain a meaningful lifetime connection. To learn more about open adoption, you can click here and talk to an adoption professional now.

How International Adoption Has Changed

Adoption can be a beautiful choice, but international adoption has changed quite a bit in recent years. In this article, we will explore the international adoption process, the changes that have come about in recent years, and major events that have affected international adoption. You can click here to get help from an adoption professional now.

International Adoption Process

The international adoption process is similar to other forms of adoption but can be longer and more complicated than other forms of adoption.

Similar to other forms of adoption, international adoption requires research, an adoption agency for support, a home study, approval, matching, and placement of a child.

In addition, international adoption requires the following:

The immigration legal process
Travel to and from a country, sometimes multiple times, sometimes for longer stays
Adherence to international adoption regulations and processes (see Hague Adoption Convention)

Unpredictability of International Adoption

Adopting internationally can be more unpredictable because of the process of adoption and the inherent additional complications of navigating the laws and regulations of multiple countries.

If adopting an infant is your goal, this can be an especially unpredictable process. While it does happen sometimes, international infant adoption is less common than adopting a child at an older age, and because international adoption can take years, even if you start the process of adopting an infant, the process may not be completed until the child is older.

International Adoption Fraud

While the number of fraudulent international adoptions is relatively low, there has been prominent news coverage of international adoption fraud that has changed the landscape of international adoption.

Fraud is, unfortunately, a possibility with international adoption, so finding a reputable international adoption agency is important to protect you and the children involved in your adoption.

Choosing an agency that has a longstanding relationship with a specific community can decrease the risk involved and make sure that your agency follows the Hague Adoption Convention. An adoption agency like Family Connections Christian Adoptions can help you find an international adoption opportunity.

International Adoptions and Ethics Challenges

Adoption agencies internationally have also faced criticism about the ethics of international adoption. One prominent reason is that international adoption makes open adoption difficult or impossible, and a child may be separated from his or her heritage and history.

International adoption requires extra care for families to make certain that international adoptees maintain ties to any remaining biological family or family history that may be important in the adoptee’s life.

This criticism has helped modern adoption professionals improve the international adoption process and equip adoptive families with more knowledge so that international adoptions are more ethical than ever before.

Adoption and International Relations

As we mentioned earlier, international adoption is complicated by the roles of multiple governments. If international relations sour between countries, that can mean disruption for your adoption plan.

One prominent example of this is adoptions in Russia. Since the war with Ukraine began, adoption from Russia to the United States is not possible in the ways it used to be, given the diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Some countries may also choose to stop letting non-citizens adopt, as China has done in recent years.

The Pandemic and International Adoption Disruptions

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated some of the pre-existing complications of international adoption and halted adoptions for many countries. Some pending adoptions were disrupted, delayed by years, and in some cases they were unable to be completed due to travel bans.

Since the pandemic, international adoption rates have not returned to pre-pandemic levels.

International Adoption Cost

The cost of international adoption depends on many factors, including your adoption agency, the country you are adopting from, travel costs, and the length of time it takes to complete the adoption.

Finding the Best International Adoption Agencies

Finding a great international adoption agency means asking questions about what you are looking for and finding specialists who can help you complete your dreams of adoption. This can mean finding an international adoption agency that already has connections with a great international adoption lawyer.

To connect with a great international adoption agency, you can click here.

Will I Regret My Adoption Decision?

Placing your child for adoption is a major life decision—possibly the biggest one you will have to make in your life—so how do you know it’s right? How do you know how you will feel in a year, or five, or ten?

Countless women have placed their children for adoption and looked back with the confidence that it was exactly the right choice. These women were able to return to the goals they pursued before their pregnancy while getting to see their child grow up in a happy, loving home.

The benefits of adoption are apparent, but the truth is that every woman and every pregnancy is different, and only you can decide if adoption is the right choice for you. If you make an informed and educated adoption decision and make sure you have addressed your emotions, you are much more likely to have a successful and emotionally rewarding adoption experience.

Making an Informed Adoption Decision

Before you make a commitment to pursue adoption, take some time to research the process and implications of adoption. You may also want to explore your other options: parenting your child or terminating your pregnancy. While each option has benefits and challenges, adoption has numerous benefits for you as well as your child.

Researching adoption will also show the ways in which adoption is misunderstood today. A true understanding of adoption will dispel several misconceptions:

Not all birth mothers are unwed teenagers – In fact, all kinds of women have placed children for adoption. Teenagers, married women with other children, and countless other women proudly carry the title of birth mother.

Children do not go to orphanages – Popular movies have perpetuated the idea that orphanages still exist, but this is simply not the case. If you choose adoption, your child will immediately go home with his or her “forever family.”

You get to pick the family – Often, women believe that their child will simply be placed with the first waiting family. In truth, you are in complete control of deciding who raises your child.

Adoption is not a good-bye – In the past, almost all adoptions were closed, but today, the opposite is true; most birth parents have a very open and rewarding relationship with their child and the adoptive family.

Once the myths are separated from the realities of adoption, the advantages become clear. Some of the benefits of adoption include:

Control of the adoption – Along with choosing the family that raises your child, you are in charge of just about every aspect of your adoption experience.

Returning to education and career goals

Opportunity for open adoption

Giving a family a gift – Many adoptive parents have struggled with infertility, and all adoptive parents are excited to grow their family; they will cherish your child as much as you do.

Giving your child a gift – by choosing the adoptive family, you ensure that your child has the life you want for him or her.

Compared to the other options, adoption has the most benefits and the least drawbacks for many women. Women who choose adoption generally have fewer negative feelings about their decision than women who choose abortion, and they do not have to parent a child before they feel ready.

This does not mean that there are not challenges in adoption, though; many of these challenges involve the emotions surrounding adoption, particularly grief and loss.

Coping with Grief and Loss

Adoption is an emotional decision, and you will need time to come to terms with your pregnancy and your adoption decision.

Do not make a hasty decision – In the initial shock of an unplanned pregnancy, it can be easy to make a decision before thinking it through completely. By carefully considering your options beforehand, you are much more likely to make decisions that will make you happy in the long run.

Address your emotions – Feelings of sadness are completely normal after an adoption, and you should allow yourself to have these feelings without self-judgment.

Know that you can change your mind – Until you sign the adoption papers and terminate your parental rights, you can always change your mind and choose to parent your child.

Seek support – Family and friends can be a great source of emotional support for women pursuing an adoption plan. Adoption agencies also offer counseling for you during and after the process.

The Takeaway: Adoption is Bittersweet

Adoption can occasionally bring with it negative feelings, and it’s important that you address these and make sure that you are ready to handle them. But along with the feelings of grief are also feelings of immense joy and pride for women who choose adoption.

Through adoption, you are empowered with the ability to choose the path for your life and your child’s life. Because of the control that women have over their adoption plans, they are much less likely to feel regret and more likely to feel assured that they made the right decision for themselves and their child.

What Can I Expect to Feel After I Say Goodbye?

The hospital trip is the most anticipated event of any pregnancy – and often the most emotional. For women who choose adoption, many of those emotions come from knowing that it’s time to say goodbye.

But you aren’t saying goodbye forever. The openness of today’s adoption relationships means that you will be able to see your child grow up and have a relationship with him or her. Still, that doesn’t mean you have to be all smiles after making an adoption decision. It’s completely normal to experience a wide range of emotions, both positive and negative; here’s what to expect if you choose adoption.

Grief and Loss

Adoption is an emotional decision, and you will need time to come to terms with your pregnancy and your adoption decision. Here are some tips for handling the emotional low points of the adoption process:

Do not make a hasty decision – Coping with an adoption decision begins before the adoption takes place. In the initial shock of an unplanned pregnancy, it can be easy to make a decision before thinking it through completely.

Address your emotions – Feelings of sadness are completely normal after an adoption, and you should allow yourself to have these feelings without self-judgment.

Seek support – Family and friends can be a great source of emotional support for women pursuing an adoption plan. Adoption agencies also offer counseling for you during and after the process.

Closure and Acceptance

After you place your child for adoption, it’s time to start looking to the future. If you choose to place your child for adoption, you will not be the one raising him or her, but you will still have a meaningful relationship. Through an open adoption, you will be able to:

Let the adoptive family know your wishes – Once you choose a family, you will be able to get to know them before the baby arrives. During this time, you can talk to them about the kind of upbringing you want for your child.

Answer your child’s questions – As your child grows older, you will be present in his or her life to talk about why you chose adoption, and that it was a decision made out of love.

See your child grow up with the parents you chose – In an open adoption, you will never have to worry about your child or wonder how he or she is doing; you will always know.

Some people believe that an ongoing relationship with the child they placed will make moving on more difficult, but the opposite is true; women in an open adoption have the reassurance of seeing their child grow up in a happy, loving home, and this helps them to achieve closure.

Can My Parents Stop Me from Choosing Adoption?

An unplanned pregnancy is a complicated matter, and it can be made even more confusing if you are under eighteen or still dependent on your parents. You may want to pursue an adoption plan that they do not agree with.

What you do after an unplanned pregnancy is a decision that only you can make. At the same time, navigating this situation with your parents can be tricky. Here’s what you need to know about the role your parents play in the adoption process, along with some tips to help you through this time.

Who Must Consent to the Adoption

If you are pursuing an adoption plan for your child, you will be asked to terminate your parental rights after giving birth. As the child’s mother, you have custody of your child until you sign the relinquishment papers – even if you are underage.

In most states, the only people who must consent to an adoption are the birth parents. This means that from a legal standpoint, you do not need to gain your parents’ consent in order for your child’s adoption to be legally valid. Every state has slightly different legal processes, so make sure you understand the adoption laws in your state and know your parental rights.

Regardless of the law, your decision may cause friction with your loved ones. If you can, you should try to help your parents understand why you are choosing adoption, but this is not always possible. Fortunately, there are still ways for you to move forward with adoption if you feel it is truly best for you and your baby.

Choosing Adoption with Unsupportive Parents

If your parents are unsupportive of your decision, they may try to prevent you from pursuing your adoption plan.

If this describes your situation, you are not alone – and you have options. You should always have the right to choose what is best for your child, and an adoption specialist can help you seek emotional and financial support through your pregnancy. You may also want to try talking to your parents with the help of your specialist, who can mediate the interaction and help you come to an understanding with your family.

Ultimately, adoption is your choice and yours alone. Making a decision against your parents’ wishes, however, can be painful and difficult, especially if you are underage or dependent on them. If at all possible, it is best to communicate with your parents and help them to understand that your reasons for choosing adoption are thought-out, responsible, and – above all – selfless.

Do I Have to Tell the Father About My Adoption Plan?

[cs_section style=”margin: 0px; padding: 45px 0px; “][cs_row style=”margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; ” inner_container=”true”][cs_column style=”padding: 0px; ” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″][cs_text]Talking to the father of your baby about your adoption plan can be difficult for any number of reasons, and you may even be wondering if you should tell him at all. Whether or not the father is involved in your life or your pregnancy, it’s important to remember that he has rights that must be recognized if you want to move forward with adoption. For this reason, talking to him is most often the best option.

Why You Should Tell Him

Your adoption decision affects you and your child, but it affects the father as well. As such, it’s important to the success of your adoption that his rights are respected if possible.

Just as you will need to terminate your parental rights when you place your child for adoption, the father must also terminate his rights. Adoption plans can quickly go off course if an uninformed birth father chooses to fight for his parental rights. The easiest way to gain his consent for the adoption is by talking to him and making sure he is informed of what is going on.

Telling the father about the adoption makes the process go much more smoothly, and it may save you added stress during your pregnancy. However, there are cases where talking to the father is not manageable or recommended.

Exceptions

There are instances in which the birth father’s rights can be terminated involuntarily. For instance, if he objects to the adoption but shows no intention of helping to raise the child, then his rights may still be terminated. Also, if he is not present and a reasonable effort has been made to locate him, then you may still be able to move forward in the adoption without his consent.

If you are in a situation where your relationship with the father is hostile, or if contacting him might be unsafe for any reason, speak to your adoption attorney or adoption specialist. They can assist you in the legal aspects of terminating the father’s rights without requiring you to see him.

How to Talk to the Father

The subject of your adoption can be sensitive regardless of the role the father plays in your life. When you talk to him about your adoption plan, keep some of the following suggestions in mind:

Tell him in person if possible – It’s best to bring up sensitive topics face-to-face, so if possible, meet up with the father in a neutral environment. In the event that you cannot meet him in person, call him on the phone and take some time to thoroughly explain your choice.

Let him know what adoption means for him – There is a chance that the father may feel left out or helpless during this time; make sure that he understands that he has legal rights as the birth father, and he can be involved in the child’s life if he wants to.

Focus on the facts – Unplanned pregnancy and adoption can get complicated, and when tensions are high, it may be easy to assign blame or say things you don’t mean. Instead, try to talk about the facts of your decision and the reasoning behind it.

Hold your ground, but let him have his feelings – Your pregnancy and adoption may be a complete surprise for him, and he may simply need time to process all of the information. Allow him the time to react to the situation, but let him know that you stand firmly by your decision.

As you plan to talk to the father of your child, keep in mind that your adoption decision is always your own. At the same time, keeping him informed and being considerate of his thoughts and feelings will go a long way to help you have a smooth, successful adoption.[/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section]