“Giving a baby up” for adoption in Oklahoma is an option for any woman facing an unplanned pregnancy. However, choosing adoption for a baby can come with many questions.
While there is no crystal ball that can offer perfect insight into what life will be like for a birth mother and the child she places for adoption in Oklahoma, there is much joy that can be found when a decision for adoption is made. Here, learn more about the process of placing a child for adoption in Oklahoma to determine whether it’s the right choice for you.
You Are Not “Giving Up” by Giving a Baby Up for Adoption in Oklahoma
“Giving a baby away” for adoption in Oklahoma is a terrible way of saying that a prospective birth mother is choosing adoption in Oklahoma. “Giving up” or “giving away” a baby is not what happens when a woman chooses adoption. The truth about adoption is that it is a decision made of love from a mother to her child. It is a gift to provide a child a better life through different parents.
Instead of using phrasing such as, “I’m giving up my baby for adoption in Oklahoma,” we encourage positive language such as, “I’m choosing adoption for my baby in Oklahoma,” or “I am placing a baby for adoption in Oklahoma.” This better reflects the love and selflessness you have as a prospective birth mother in this process.
How to Give a Baby Up for Adoption in Oklahoma
The first step in considering adoption is educating yourself on what adoption is and how the adoption process works in Oklahoma.
While the general process for adoption remains the same across the U.S., adoption laws can (and do) vary from one state to another. For example, unlike in other states, there is no waiting period to putting a newborn up for adoption in Oklahoma. This means you can place your child for adoption immediately after birth, if you so desire.
However, it is important that any expectant mother considering putting a baby up for adoption in Oklahoma understands the adoption process before diving into it.
In general, the steps for choosing adoption begin with a prospective birth mother making the decision to place her baby for adoption in Oklahoma and end with the beginning of her new life as a birth mother.
Step 1: Make the adoption decision.
There are many different reasons that women have for choosing to place their babies up for adoption in Oklahoma. Every woman has different circumstances with her support network, a unique relationship with the child’s birth father, and access to or lack of helpful resources that may influence her decision.
No matter what situation you are in, there are some key areas you should assess when it comes to choosing adoption:
- Financial: Can you support you and your baby’s needs both in the short-term and the long-term?
- Social: Do you have the support network in your life to be the mother you desire to be?
- Environmental: Does your living environment encourage a happy and healthy home for a child, or is your situation a bit too unstable to offer a home to a baby?
- Mental: Are you mature enough to handle the many rough days that come with parenting and taking care of an infant?
Of course, there are many other factors a woman can consider to determine if adoption is the right decision for her. An adoption professional can help you assess these factors and help you make the best decision for your situation.
Know this: If adoption is the right choice for a prospective birth mother, then the decision will likely bring a sense of peace.
Step 2: Create an adoption plan.
An adoption plan is a document that highlights a prospective birth mother’s desires surrounding her adoption decision.
Some of the information found in an adoption plan includes:
- The type of adoptive family that an expectant mother wants her child placed with. This may include specific demographics such as race, culture, religion, location, and more.
- The type of post-placement relationship a prospective birth mother wants with the prospective adoptive family and her child, such as an open, semi-open or closed adoption. The type of adoption a prospective birth mother chooses is not regulated by Oklahoma; it is a decision that she can make entirely for herself.
- A hospital plan, if the prospective birth mother is pregnant during the adoption process.
Adoption agencies, both locally and nationally, will offer every prospective birth mother an adoption professional to guide her through the adoption process. It is the role of the adoption professional to ensure that every prospective birth mother has a positive adoption process experience and as much support as she needs along the way.
The adoption plan is written by the prospective birth mother with the guidance of the adoption professional.
Step 3: Choose an adoptive family.
Adoption agencies across Oklahoma and national agencies have pools of waiting families just hoping to find their perfect birth mother match. Your adoption professional will use your adoption plan to select a few different waiting families’ profiles for you. You can look at these profiles (and more, if necessary) to find the perfect match for your child.
Once you choose your perfect prospective adoptive family, it is time to bond with them and prepare for placement.
Step 4: Prepare for placement.
It is at this point that an adoption professional will bring in an adoption attorney for the prospective birth mother. There will be legal conversations regarding the birth mother’s decision and the birth father’s place in her life. There will be legal paperwork to review and sign, as well.
If a woman is pregnant when she decides to put her baby up for adoption in Oklahoma, then she will need a hospital plan, as well. A hospital plan includes:
- Who will be present during labor and delivery,
- What hospital or birth center will be used,
- When the baby will be placed with the waiting adoptive family,
- And how the birth mother will get home after her hospital stay.
Again, your hospital plan will be created with the guidance of an experienced adoption professional.
Step 5: Adjust to life after adoption.
Life after an adoption in Oklahoma is whatever a birth mother decides she wants it to be.
Life after a closed adoption can mean a fresh start for a birth mother who placed her baby for adoption in Oklahoma. Life through a semi-open adoption can bring additional joy with correspondence between a birth mother, the adoptive parents, and the child placed for adoption — all mediated by the adoption agency.
On the other hand, open adoption has proven to be highly beneficial for birth mothers. Not only will a birth mother enjoy the start of a new chapter in her life with the ongoing knowledge of her child’s well-being, but her child will also benefit from knowing his or her birth mother and adoption story.
No matter what kind of life you choose to have after adoption, it can be beautiful and fulfilling if you choose to make it so.
If you are a woman considering giving a baby up for adoption in Oklahoma, please fill out this contact form. An adoption professional will reach out to you as soon as possible and help you start your very own adoption journey!
