How to Place a Baby for Adoption in Virginia

When encountering the decision to “give up your baby” for adoption in Virginia because of an unplanned pregnancy, pursuing helpful information can help ease your anxieties. The decision to put your baby up for adoption in Virginia produces many emotions and countless questions. The task of adoption itself can seem overwhelming, but you can be supported and guided in your decision to place your baby with another family when you are connected with an adoption professional.

Below, you will find five important steps that will direct your decision for adoption in Virginia. These specifics about the adoption process in Virginia will aid you in a less stressful decision and provide answers to many of your questions. If you need any further assistance, contact an adoption professional who can offer a more detailed answer for the best future for you and your child.

You Are Not “Giving Up” by Giving a Baby Up for Adoption in Virginia

Do not tell yourself that you are “giving up” your baby when you complete an adoption in Virginia. “Giving up” means failing to act. But on the contrary, you are acting as an expectant mother whose thoughts are selfless for the future of your baby.  When placing your baby for adoption in Virginia is in your child’s best interests, your decision will change the course of your child’s life and is an act of love. You have come to the realization of the humility it takes to put another’s needs ahead of your own. So, when you feel like you are “giving up” your baby for adoption, know that the adoption community in Virginia refers to your act as placing your baby for adoption and sees it as an act of love.

How to Give a Baby Up for Adoption in Virginia

As an expectant mother, you will find the decision of placing your baby for adoption in Virginia will be the hardest of realities to accept, but it may end up giving you great peace. With the help of an adoption professional and following the steps below, you can learn more about the process of placing a child for adoption in Virginia.

Step 1: Make the Adoption Decision

Making the final decision of putting a baby up for adoption in Virginia may serve as the highest hurdle to jump in the earliest days of an adoption journey for a prospective birth mother. She must reflect on her situation with careful inquiry as to what is best for the future of the child. Will she possess the financial ability to support a child? Can she offer the type of environment she desires for the child to be raised in?  What type of village surrounds her as it pertains to supporting her in raising a child?  Does the prospective birth mother understand all the changes that come with caring for a baby?

When considering placing a baby for adoption in Virginia, an expectant mother must honestly respond to these questions and many more before coming to a decision. Once she has considered all of her unplanned pregnancy options and has been presented with all the information she needs, she can make her adoption decision in Virginia.

Step 2: Create an Adoption Plan

Once an expectant mother chooses to put her baby up for adoption in Virginia, she will begin to create a picture of the details she wishes to include in her adoption plan. With the assistance of an adoption professional, she can initiate conversations about placing her baby for adoption and her desires in doing so.

At the beginning of the adoption process in Virginia for an expectant mother, she will work with her adoption professional to make many important decisions about her adoption process, including the type of family she wishes to adopt her baby. When explaining the characteristics of her ideal adoptive family, she will also need to decide what type of contact she desires to have with this family after the placement. Will the expectant mother want to meet the family before she makes her decision, or will she allow a family member to be in the delivery room? What type of relationship will she have with the adoptive family as her child grows? Does the birth mother want photos or phone calls? Will they schedule yearly visits or just skype for now?

The birth mother will also make clear any necessities for living expenses, medical costs, etc. This will be discussed with her adoption professional and be a part of her adoption plan.

Step 3: Choose an Adoptive Family

As an expectant mother in Virginia, you may already have in mind what type of future you hope for your child and what type of family would be best suited to raise him or her. Answer questions like where do you want your child to live? Would you mind if they have siblings? Do you have a religious preference for an adoptive family? Responding to these and other preferences you may have will be very significant when beginning your adoptive family search. Your adoption professional will listen to your requests and show you profiles of families that are the best selection to match the picture you have painted of the best adoptive family for your little one.

Step 4: Prepare for Placement

Once you have hand-picked the adoptive family, you or your adoption professional will make contact with them to plan for the placement of the baby after birth. Both the prospective birth mother and expectant adoptive family will be made aware of the placement plan and expectations that will begin even in the hospital where the baby will be born. Post-placement plans will also be discussed concerning the communication desired between the birth mother and adoptive family.  Will they have an open adoption plan? How will they make contact after the adoption? How will the adoptive family meet the baby?

In Virginia, after the birth of a baby with a plan for a direct placement for adoption, the birth parents can provide written consent for the adoption no earlier than the third calendar day of the baby’s life. Upon signing consent, a birth parent’s consent is revocable until ten days after birth and seven days after the date of execution.

Step 5: Adjust to Life after Adoption

Adoption does not stop at placement of a child for the birth parent. Adoption is a lifelong promise for both parties and must be entered into with utmost respect for all those involved. Being involved in adoption will affect each parent and child differently, but adoption will always be life-changing. An adoption professional will discuss the importance of connecting a birth mother with counseling to assist with the emotions endured following placement of her child. In the event of an open adoption, the adoptive family and birth mother will come up with a plan for communication over the next 18 years of the child’s life. Keeping in contact with each other is recommended for all parties to have the healthiest relationship as the years pass.

Adoption professionals in Virginia are here to help you navigate these steps and answer any remaining questions you may have regarding putting your baby up for adoption in Virginia. If you would like to request additional, free information from an adoption professional for a Virginia adoption, please complete the contact form and await a response for additional support.

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