What You Need to Know About How to Change Adoptive Families
If you feel a sudden change of heart towards the adoptive family you have chosen, do not sign any adoption paperwork, and contact your adoption specialist immediately — it is your right to change adoptive families.
As a birth mother, you are in complete control of your adoption and the decisions made throughout.
Anytime you have questions about finding the best adoptive parents, changing families, or anything adoption-related, you can always fill out this form to get more information from an adoption specialist.
How Do You Choose Adoptive Couples?
Deciding on an adoptive family will be one of the most challenging yet most exciting decisions you’ll ever have to make.
Working with an agency, you can review profiles and adoptive families, and even talk to families before making your choice. When you’ve found the couple that you believe is perfect for your baby, you may feel overjoyed with relief.
But, sometimes things change throughout the adoption process. The more you get to know the family, you may realize their goals don’t line up with yours as well as you once thought.
This can lead you to ask yourself, “Can you change adoptive couples?”
Just as you are in charge of choosing the adoptive family, you can also choose to change your mind if you need to. There are several reasons as to why a prospective birth mother might want to change her mind about the adoptive couple, but there are also several things to consider before doing so.
This guide explains how to change adoptive families and what you need to know before doing so.
How Do You Change Adoptive Couples?
Once you choose the adoptive family you want for your baby, you’ll begin pre-placement contact with them. At this point, you’ll start getting to know one another through phone calls, emails, and sometimes in-person visits if you live close enough to each other.
If you start to feel wary of your choice at some point during your pre-placement contact, you will want to discuss these feelings with your adoption specialist immediately.
It’s normal to feel anxious about your decision. After all, this is a choice that will affect your child for the rest of their life. And It’s possible that this feeling can go away.
But, if this is something you keep coming back to in your head, it might be time to give it some more thought. It’s more than possible that this just might not be the right family for you, as hard as it may be to believe after all this time searching.
You are in control of your adoption and the family you choose. Just know that if you feel uncomfortable with the idea of continuing your adoption plan with this family, but you’d still like to pursue an adoption, finding a different family is an option.
Your adoption specialist will do everything they can to make sure that you find the right family for your baby, no matter how long it takes. They can help you determine whether there is something that can be done to reassure you of your choice.
For example, maybe you have certain questions or concerns that could be addressed with the adoptive family to help you feel more confident in your decision. Other times, it may just take some more time and more conversations for you to feel fully comfortable with the adoptive parents, and that’s totally normal.
However, if you talk to your adoption specialist and still feel certain that you need to keep searching for the right adoptive parents, he or she can explain how to change adoptive families based on where you are in the adoption process.
When Can I Change Adoptive Families?
As the birth parent, you control every decision made throughout the adoption process — including the adoptive family you choose. If you have found a family but start to second guess your decision, you have the ability to change your mind throughout the entire adoption process.
It is important to know that changing your mind needs to happen before adoption paperwork has been signed and you have relinquished your parental rights. In most states, you do not have the ability to change your mind after you have signed your paperwork.
If you have any doubts or are considering finding a different adoptive family, you must not sign any paperwork, nor terminate your parental rights. You will want to discuss your thoughts with your specialist as soon as possible. They will be able to help guide you towards finding a family that better matches what you are looking for and will inform the previous family of your decision.
What to Consider Before Changing Adoptive Families
As a birth parent, adoption is a very emotional experience and decision. But, keep in mind, adoptive parents are emotionally invested as well.
In many cases, adoption is the final option for hopeful families to become parents. They may have struggled with infertility or child loss and are open and excited about the opportunity adoption can bring. A sudden change can be devastating.
For these reasons and more, it is important to truly evaluate your situation before making any changes.
During your adoption process, your specialist will be by your side to help answer any questions you may have, make sure your needs are being met, and keep your adoption on track for success. If you ask how to change adoptive families, they will walk you through the process and help determine if the feelings are temporary and if there is a potential solution. Brief moments of doubt are natural and common.
The most important thing to know is that no matter what you decide, your adoption specialist will always support you. They will, of course, give you different things to think about as you’re wondering how to change adoptive families. They’ll just want to make sure that you’ve given plenty of thought to this decision, that all of your expectations for a new adoptive family are realistic and that you’ve gotten to know the adoptive family the best you can before making this choice.
Suppose your specialist does not feel there is a solution, although difficult for everyone involved. In that case, they will inform the family of your decision, and you will begin the process of finding a family that is better suited for what you are looking for.
Changing families is a big decision, but in many cases, it is the best decision. If you have questions about when you can change adoptive families, fill out this online form to get more information from an adoption professional.
Can I Change My Mind About Placing My Baby for Adoption?
Emotions are a tricky thing. We know that it’s not easy to choose adoption, and it may not be the right choice for every prospective birth mother, but it may be the best choice for you.
You may be at a crossroads between parenting and adoption, and you’re unsure of what your next move should be. Suddenly, something that you were 100%on board with has changed.
If you’re asking how to change adoptive families, it’s important to consider whether this is really about the adoptive parents you chose — or if it could have more to do with your own feelings about adoption.
It’s perfectly okay to change your mind about adoption if you don’t feel like it’s the best decision for you at this time. Every prospective birth mother has the opportunity to change her mind, and you are no exception.
If you continue changing your mind about the adoptive families you’ve seen, you may need to ask yourself if this is the right time to choose adoption. If you need advice about how to change adoptive families, or if you would like to change your mind about the adoption process, your adoption specialist will be available to you for any concerns. They will provide unbiased opinions on your situation and help you determine what is best.
Adoption is a brave and selfless decision, one you do not have to make on your own. You can fill out this online form to speak with an adoption specialist today!