Celebrating National Adoption Month
By Amber Godin
Adoption has given many families something to truly be thankful for. The month of November is known for celebrating Thanksgiving in America. But did you know that it is also the country’s National Adoption Month? It is not a wonder that bringing National Adoption Month and Thanksgiving in the same month works so well. It is about gratitude and family. Because adoption is happening more often than you think, it is worth celebrating how it has created fulfilled families. The history of adoption dates back centuries, yet adoption laws were formalized in the state of Massachusetts in 1851. The importance of adoption is how it gives adoptive parents a new lease on life through the adoption process. Adoption also gives the adoptee the care and attention they need to thrive and the love they deserve.
Adoption agencies in Kansas provide ease to what seems like a complicated process, but it doesn’t have to be. While adoption integrates the emotional, social, and legal systems, it is more about helping build families. It is also about helping the biological parents, such as a birth mother, with an unplanned pregnancy. Often times when an unexpected or unwanted pregnancy occurs, women may not feel ready to be a parent. Sometimes, the birth father is not in the picture, leaving the woman to feel burdened. Other times, it is simply deciding that adoption provides a better life outcome and home for the baby. Everyone has their own valid reasons, and Adoption Choices of Kansas provides personalized guidance for your own.
The Adoption Process is Thorough and puts You in Control of Planning
When you contact Adoption Choices of Kansas, you will be connected to a Birth Parent Counselor. The Birth Parent Counselor is an adoption specialist who will guide you in the creation of your adoption plan. We conduct background checks on everyone involved in the adoption process and may request documentation. You will give us important information, such as providing proof of pregnancy and telling us about your financial situation. Choosing adoption is cost-free for the birth parents. For example, medical care is covered by insurance, and the state of Kansas by the adoptive family.
We conduct home studies to observe potential adoptive families’ competency in raising a child and providing a nurturing home. Choosing the adoptive family is another part of the adoption process that you are in control of. You are given profiles of adoptive families to look through, and when you choose, you can initiate contact. You get to choose your level of openness with the adoptive family. Open, Semi-Open, and Closed Adoption are all choices at our adoption agency. Deciding which type is best for you is based on the level or modes of communication agreed to maintain. This can mean pictures, phone calls, or visits. When you give birth, you choose who will hold your baby and even the naming aspect. Post-birth in the hospital is when you give the final relinquishing of parental rights to the adoptive family to take the baby home.
Adoption Agencies in Kansas Consider Both Birth Parents
Most of the attention gets placed on the birth mother in the process of adoption. But what about the birth father? At our adoption agency, Adoption Choices of Kansas, we consider both birth parents because it is an emotional topic. If the birth father is present in the birth mother’s life, then we consider it a decision that you both make together. We recognize the real emotions that the father goes through just the same as the birth mother. Notably, a feeling of embarrassment, denial, sadness, or irresponsibility are all part of processing an unwanted pregnancy. Or it could be that you are not prepared to raise a child. Maybe you are separating or getting a divorce?
Regardless of whether you stay as a couple or not, you both consent to adoption, and both choose adoptive parents. You also are in control of the level of openness you want with the adoptive family. You both can sign consent for adoption in Kansas 12 hours post-birth.
Both birth parents will be in communication with a Birth Parent Counselor for support and guidance throughout the process. It never has to be a final decision. We are here to determine if it is right for you and your baby. Giving a child up for adoption is an emotional process for both birth parents, who may express it uniquely. We recognize both parental rights in the adoption process as equal. When birth parents support each other in the process, it shows nothing less than responsibility. Supporting each other in the adoption process shows you care about the life of your baby.
It is Never Too Late or Too Early for Giving a Child up for Adoption
Whether you are pregnant or have just given birth, it is never too late or too early for a baby to be put up for adoption. You may be teenage birth parents or adults. We guarantee the same rights no matter your age or pregnancy. You still advocate for yourself, and we still support you and provide you with the same options. Our adoption counselors are available to assist you 24/7, providing communication that is confidential, such as about unexpected pregnancy. Our agency also offers Last Minute Hospital Adoption. This means you may even have left the hospital uncertain about keeping your baby. Or you suddenly decide that you do not want to be a parent. We can still help you unconditionally with the adoption process.
How to Start Your Adoption Journey Today
Adoption is an emotional process for both birth parents, and with Adoption Choices of Kansas, we give you both control over the adoption plan, acknowledging both parental rights. Know that it is never too early or too late to place your baby up for adoption. We offer adoption services such as financial, medical, and legal counseling. We are a progressive company offering a multitude of options and services to birth parents and adoptive families.
We encourage you to talk about adoption as something to celebrate. You can do this by openly talking about it to friends and family, reading, and even sharing your experience.