Choosing adoption in Texas takes a lot of courage, bravery and strength. Adoption is one of the hardest decisions a potential birth mother will ever make in her life. Putting a newborn up for adoption in Texas is an amazing act of self-sacrifice on behalf of the birth mother.
Texas adoptions follow the same general adoption process as other states, which includes making an adoption decision, creating an adoption plan, choosing an adoptive family, preparing for placement, and beginning to live life again after placement and finalization have occurred. There are state-specific laws guiding adoption in Texas that include a 48-hour waiting period after birth before placement can take place. An adoption professional will be able to guide any potential birth mother through giving up a baby for adoption.
You Are Not “Giving Up” by Giving Baby Up for Adoption
Today in Texas, giving baby up for adoption is better phrased as placing a baby for adoption or putting baby up for adoption. “Giving a baby up for adoption” sounds like a woman is “giving up” on her baby, which couldn’t be farther from the truth. When a woman makes an adoption decision in Texas, she is deciding to sacrifice the experience of motherhood for her child by gifting him or her a better life through different parents. This is one of the most selfless acts a woman can do for the love she has for her child. Giving up baby for adoption in Texas is choosing a better life for baby.
How to Give Baby Up for Adoption in Texas
How to place a baby for adoption has a general process followed throughout the country, including Texas. However, different situations and Texas law regarding adoption will change the specifics of the process. An adoption professional, whether they be local or national, can help walk an expectant mother through the adoption process, provide her information, and offer her support throughout the entire process. The general process for choosing adoption in Texas includes making an adoption decision, creating an adoption plan, choosing an adoptive family, preparing for placement, and adjusting to life after adoption.
- Make the adoption decision.
The first step in making an adoption decision is for a prospective birth mother to sit down and get honest with herself about her maturity level and specific situation, both physiologically and emotionally. Are you ready to parent? Are you ready to choose adoption? A great tool to help make an adoption decision is to create a pros and cons list for choosing to parent versus adoption. Write down the thoughts you have on adoption and all the different factors contributing to the thought. It will give you clarity to put pen to paper. An adoption specialist will be able to connect you to a pregnancy counselor if you need to gather more information about yourself and adoption before deciding. Putting your baby up for adoption in Texas is an important decision that should not be made without careful consideration. When adoption is right, the decision will bring a sense of peace with it.
- Create an adoption plan.
An adoption professional will be able to help a potential birth mother by creating an adoption plan with her. The adoption plan will include what a woman considering adoption is looking for in an adoptive family, which will also include her desire for the level of post-placement contact she will have with her child. The adoption plan also includes the hospital plan for when she gives birth, when she places baby with the adoptive family, and how she will get home from the hospital. Adoption professionals have the tools and experience to help a prospective birth mother create an adoption plan that works for her.
- Choose an adoptive family.
This is one of the most exciting steps in putting a baby up for adoption in Texas. A woman considering adoption will have the opportunity to look through adoptive families to find the right family for her and her child. Then, she can meet the potential adoptive parents and begin to bond with them. Adoption professionals, both locally and nationally serving Texas, will have profiles of families that they believe will be a good fit for the potential birth mother based on her adoption plan. Once presented with these profiles, a potential birth mother can choose the family she feels best about and meet them. Potential birth mothers and potential adoptive families will have the chance to get to know each other throughout the pregnancy and the adoption process.
- Prepare for placement.
If a potential birth mother is pregnant when choosing adoption, she will need to create a hospital plan. The hospital plan will include her preferred hospital, her doctor’s information, who is allowed in the delivery room, how she will get home from the hospital, etc. An adoption professional will help her create her hospital plan. If a woman doesn’t need a hospital plan, she will skip it. However, regardless of whether the woman needs a hospital plan or not, she will need to begin signing legal paperwork for adoption. An adoption professional should have an adoption attorney in Texas for a potential birth mother to use at no cost to her. An adoption attorney should be versed in Texas adoption law and know how to handle every different prospective birth mother situation.
- Adjust to life after adoption.
Life after putting a baby up for adoption in Texas will never be as life was before an unplanned pregnancy. Depending on a birth mother’s outlook, this can be a great or hard life. No matter what the adoption process is like, it will be important that a birth mother walk a path of healing after adoption. It is in this way that she will be able to process her grief and receive a second chance at life, just like she was able to provide for her child.
Women considering adoption are encouraged to fill out a contact form to request additional, free information from an adoption professional. While the road ahead of a woman considering giving her baby up for adoption in Texas may seem long, it is only temporary in the grand scheme of her life and the life of her child. Adoption can be a miraculous experience if any woman who is experiencing it is open to it. Be brave, and find peace in your decision of placing baby for adoption in TX. It just might be the most rewarding experience you ever have!