Birth Parents' Questions

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What are my options?

As a birth parent, you have many options available to you. In order for you to make the best choice for you, you need to think about those things that are important to you and what would be best. If you decide on adoption, your first choice is whether you want to place your child through an agency or directly to adoptive parents.

Agency adoptions:

If you place your child through an agency, the staff will provide counseling and handle all the details of the adoption. This is the easiest way to proceed. You will work with them and they will guide you along the way.

However, if you choose an agency to place your child with, you may limit your options somewhat. With an agency, you may or may not be able to pick the people adopting your child. You would have little or no contact with the adoptive parents before birth. Following the adoption, in many cases you would receive photos of your child every year or so, but in most cases you would have no contact with the child in the future.

Independent adoptions:

If you want to be more involved with and have more control over the adoption, then independent adoption probably would be better for you. With an independent adoption, you place your child directly without the services of an agency. If you choose to go with an independent adoption, you make the decisions regarding the adoption:

• Who will adopt your child?
• How involved would the adoptive parents be with your pregnancy?
• Would they be in constant contact during the pregnancy?
• Would they accompany/assist you with your pre-natal doctor visits?
• Would they be at the hospital when you give birth?
• Would the adoption be open or closed to future visits/contacts between you and the child?

These are some of the decisions you can make in an independent adoption. It is important if you choose independent adoption that you make the decisions that you are comfortable with so that you have a positive adoption experience.

How can we assist you?

We have helped many birth parents consider all the decisions that they must make when considering adoption. We understand. Because of our vast experience with other birth parents, we can discuss with you all of your options. We can help you consider all the issues and make informed choices that are right for you — whether you choose adoption or ultimately choose to parent the child.

While we cannot find adoptive parents for you, we can assist you in locating and screening potential adoptive parents. We can help you choose those you will feel good about placing your child with. We can make sure you get any necessary services that you may want, such as pregnancy counseling. Once the adoption begins, we will help you complete all the necessary papers for the adoption and protect your interests legally. We will be in your corner. We will deal with the attorney retained by the adoptive parents.

How are the legal costs paid?

Generally, adoptive parents pay for our services. Once you've picked out adoptive parents to work with, we would obtain a retainer (advanced money) from the adoptive parents to cover past and future services that we would provide for you. Once the process has begun, the adoptive parents are responsible for paying for our services. While they pay our bill, we are ethically required to always remember that you are our client. It is your interests that we must protect, not the potential adoptive parents you are working with.