Working with an Adoption Agency to Place a Baby for Adoption – What to Know
When many women find out that they’re facing an unplanned pregnancy and want to consider adoption, they’re unsure of who to talk to or where to find trustworthy information. While your family and friends might be an amazing support system, it can be helpful to talk to someone with an outside perspective.
There are several types of professionals you can talk to about your plans for adoption, including:
- An adoption specialist, also known as an adoption social worker
- An adoption counselor
- A hospital social worker
- An adoption agency
For this article, we’re going to focus on the last point, pregnant adoption agencies. Deciding which agency to work with is one of the first and most important decisions that you’ll make. But with so many types to choose from, you’re probably asking, “What exactly is an adoption center to give up a child, and which one is right for me?” Find out more below.
What do Adoption Agencies for Birth Mothers Do?
Adoption agencies for birth mothers are local and national private domestic agencies that help prospective birth mothers place their children for adoption. Their services are vast, but a few they almost always offer are:
- Offering counseling and educational resources
- Offering 24/7 support
- Adoption and hospital planning
- Coordinating legal services
- Help coordinating post-placement contact
- And much more
Any place-a-child-for-adoption agency you contact should provide free, trustworthy information. You should not feel pressured into making an adoption plan. When you call an adoption hotline, make sure they’re doing everything they can to provide information on all of your unplanned pregnancy options, not just adoption. No matter which pregnant adoption agencies you decide to talk to, you should never feel like you’re being pressured into choices you don’t want to make.
Are there Adoption Agencies that Will Pay for all Expenses?
Contrary to popular belief, adoption agencies don’t pay you to choose adoption. In every state, it is illegal to place your baby for adoption in exchange for payment, and there are no adoption agencies that will pay for your baby.
What you’re probably thinking of when it comes to paying adoption agencies is something called “adoption financial assistance.” Having a baby is expensive, so this assistance helps cover any expenses that occur when a prospective birth mother chooses adoption for her baby. In most states, financial assistance from an adoption agency can help cover:
- Rent and utilities
- Groceries
- Medical expenses
- Legal expenses
- Transportation
- And more
How much you are eligible to receive depends on your unique situation and the state you live in. Adoption agencies who support birth mothers financially will do everything they can to make sure that you receive as much as you’re allowed under state law; certain agencies will not “pay” more than others to cover your expenses. To learn more about adoption financial assistance for your situation and adoption agencies that help with living expenses, please reach out to an adoption professional.
Are There Adoption Agencies that Help with Housing?
This type of adoption agency offers housing and relocation services for pregnant women considering adoption. Most of the adoption agencies that provide housing do so as part of your adoption financial assistance.
Over the course of your adoption, you might find yourself in an unsafe or unstable living situation. When that happens, you can always reach out to your adoption specialist for assistance, and they can either relocate you or connect you to a residence program like a maternity home. If you’re in this type of situation, please reach out to an adoption agency who helps with housing as soon as possible. They want to make sure that you and your baby are in a safe environment, and they will do anything to make that happen.
What are Older Child Adoption Agencies?
Creating an adoption plan doesn’t always happen during the pregnancy. There are many women who, after some time, realize that parenting is not the right option for them. It’s actually more common than you might think.
When that happens, you can contact any of the older child adoption agencies. This type of agency is open to placing children who are no longer newborns with adoptive parents. Making an adoption plan when your child is a few months older is very similar to making an adoption plan when they’re a newborn. You are still in complete control of your adoption plan. You have the right to pick the perfect family for your baby, create a hospital plan, and decide how much contact you’re open to after the adoption. Even when you work with adoption agencies for putting a baby up for adoption after birth, you’re still entitled to the same support as any other prospective birth mother, such as adoption counseling and free adoption services.
What are Anonymous Adoption Agencies?
When you first find out about your unplanned pregnancy and consider adoption, you might ask yourself, “Are there adoption agencies for pregnant women that will protect my privacy during the process?”
Yes. Anonymous adoption agencies exist to help women keep their pregnancy and adoption plan as private as they’d like. Technically, this applies to all adoption agencies. Any professional that you share your personal information with is obligated to keep it confidential. As a prospective birth mother, you get to choose how much of your personal information and adoption plan you want to share with the people in your life, including your child and the adoptive family you choose.
Keep in mind, however, that it is increasingly difficult for “giving up for adoption” agencies to ensure your adoption remains completely closed. Adoptions aren’t the closed, secretive affairs that the used to be, and many professionals are embracing and actively encouraging the idea of open and semi-open adoptions. In addition, it’s getting easier to find someone through social media. Even if you choose a closed adoption, there’s no guarantee that your child and the adoptive family won’t find you at some point later down the line.
If you would like a closed adoption, you can discuss this with your adoption agency, and they will help you make a plan you are comfortable with. Remember, whether you choose an open or closed adoption, anonymous adoption agencies will not share your personal information with anyone without your consent.
Where Can I Find the Best Adoption Agencies for Birth Mothers?
There organizations to place a child for adoption across the country that can help you start an adoption plan. A few that you might consider are:
If you’re looking for more adoption agencies for birth mothers near you, or if you have other questions about who can help with adoption, please fill out our form to be connected to an adoption professional.