Can I Have a Family After Placing a Baby for Adoption?
By Kaitlyn Chrisemer
Adoption is one of the main options for women who find themselves unexpectedly pregnant and aren’t ready for a family. If you aren’t ready to raise a child when you find out you’re pregnant, adoption may be the path for you. However, many women struggle with guilt when placing their baby for adoption – especially if they eventually want a family.
Many women who consider adoption during an unplanned pregnancy want kids, but not at this point in their lives. A lot of these women aren’t ready to have a family but would like one later in life. This can cause some women to feel guilty for placing their child for adoption once they get older. When a woman who placed a child for adoption begins to consider having a family, feelings of guilt may arise. We at Adoption Choices of Colorado are here to help you throughout your adoption journey.
If you need adoption help now, please call or text us at 303-670-4673 (HOPE) or visit us at Adoption Choices of Colorado.
Adoption Guilt
If you feel guilty about placing a baby for adoption, don’t worry. Your feelings are normal. Throughout pregnancy and the adoption process, you’ll likely experience many emotions. At Adoption Choices of Colorado, we have counselors who can help you at any point in your journey. They can help you work through your feelings and begin moving on after adoption finalization.
Our adoption agencies want to take care of you and your needs throughout this difficult time. We want to make sure you remember why you chose adoption and felt it was the best option. Although negative feelings are common after placing your baby up for adoption, we want to help you overcome these emotions. You shouldn’t feel held back from anything because of this decision.
You may feel like you gave up on your child when you placed them for adoption, but that’s not the case. By adopting out your baby, you let them be loved and cared for in a way you weren’t ready to do. You gave them a good life when you knew you wouldn’t have been able to provide them with one yourself. Placing a baby for adoption is a selfless, caring act on the part of the birth mother. Choosing adoption is not giving up, and it does not mean you can’t have kids in the future.
How Can I Have a Family After Adoption?
If you feel like you can’t have a family of your own after placing your child for adoption, reach out to us. Post-adoption counseling is available for private adoptions in Colorado. We want to make sure that you are content and comfortable with your CO adoption.
You may not have been ready for kids when you chose adoption. However, that doesn’t mean you can never have a family. Remember that circumstances can change over time. Just because you weren’t ready then doesn’t mean you never will be.
Placing a baby for adoption is difficult and takes a lot of strength. Knowing that you aren’t ready to raise a child takes a lot of self-awareness and compassion. However, placing your child for adoption allows them to have a better life than you could’ve given them. If later in life you feel able to raise a child of your own, don’t let guilt from your past stop you.
Moving On After Adoption
Contact us if you’re experiencing difficulty moving on after placing your baby for adoption. We have private adoption agencies throughout Colorado with resources to help. At Adoption Choices of Colorado, our agencies and counselors want to help with your adoption journey no matter where you are in it. If you’re considering adoption and need information, we’d be happy to talk to you. If you want to make an adoption plan, we can help guide you as you make these important decisions. Even if you have finalized the adoption and need help moving on, we can help.
During this difficult and emotional time, it’s important to remember why you chose adoption. If you believe adoption is the best path for you and the child, don’t let yourself feel bad about this decision. You should never feel bad or guilty for doing your best. In the future, you may feel that you’re ready to raise a child. Don’t doubt yourself because you previously decided to place a child for adoption. Mothers who place a child for adoption can still be wonderful parents later in life.
If you are facing an unplanned pregnancy and want to learn more about your adoption options, contact Adoption Choices of Colorado by email, phone, or text: Email Us, Text us: 720-371-1099, Call us: 303-670-4673 (HOPE). If you are hoping to adopt, please contact us here.
Stephanie joined the Adoption Choices family in 2014 as the Child Placement Supervisor. Her love for adoption began in first grade when she made friends with twins adopted from Vietnam. Her heart grew strong over the years for adopted children and ultimately led her to graduate school where she continued her focus to her dream of working in the adoption field. Stephanie earned a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Denver in 2001. Over the past 15 years, Stephanie has worked as a pregnancy counselor and as an adoptive parent counselor for foster care, international adoption and domestic adoption, writing hundreds of home studies for families, and helping build their forever families. Stephanie is married and has three boys ages 12, 9, and 5. Together with her family she enjoys riding bike, playing games, watching her three sons compete in their various sporting and musical activities and go on vacations.
Christy Ikeler, is our Executive Director and Birth Parent Director. Christy has been with Adoption Choices Team for 18 years, since opening the doors in 2002! Christy has a true passion for what she does and her true love is working with and helping each birth parent. Whether she is up all night on the phone talking with them, taking them to doctors appointments, out for their favorite treat, providing counseling or at the hospital during labor and delivery, Christy is very involved every step of the way. She has a contagious laugh and a spunky personality that our birth moms all can bond with and relate to. As an adoptive parent herself, adoption holds a very special place in her heart and she can relate on every level with both birth parents and adoptive parents. In her free time Christy loves spending time with her daughter, gardening, baking and taking vacations with her family. Christy is an excellent leader for our team at Adoption Choices and is truly one of a kind!! As Executive Director, Christy spends time with the staff, birth parents and adoptive families in order to ensure that the agency is running smoothly. She has placed a huge emphasis on community outreach and programs for birth parents. Christy loves the opportunity to lead the agency into a brighter future.
Ms. Mackenzie has built a successful counseling career over the past 20 years, supporting mothers and families, people of all ages and genders, students, community professionals and fellow clinicians. Liv values a diverse professional focus, including the entrepreneurial life of a sole proprietor, the evaluative process of certifying foster/adoptive homes, the insightful and mindful one-on-one one work with enthusiastic clients, and serving as an advocate for underserved populations. Liv is a Licensed Professional Counselor and holds a BA in Pre-Law and Economics from American University, an MA in Counseling from Adams University and a certificate in Human Resource Management from Villanova University. Away from work you will find Liv spending time in nature, biking to the farmer’s market and adventuring with her family.
Catherine A. Madsen, joined the Adoption Choices family as legal counsel in 2013. Catherine is responsible for providing legal guidance to the Agency, training and updating staff on developments in adoption law and legislation, and program development. Catherine
Virginia Frank is an adoption attorney accredited since 1991 with the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys. Ms. Frank is a leader in the field of private adoption and has completed over 4,000 adoptions in her career. Ms. Frank has a law degree from Oklahoma City University and a BA in both Political Science and Communications from the University of Oklahoma.
Cassidie has been with Adoption Choices since 2015, she has her bachelors in Interdisciplinary Affairs with concentrations in both Sociology and Business Management. Cassidie has additional training in Victim Advocacy, foster care and has been working in women’s services for over 10 years. Cassidie has always had a heart for adoption and it was her career dream to work in adoption. She started off doing volunteer work for advocacy programs, adoption organizations and worked in High Risk Maternal Fetal Medicine through the University of Colorado Hospital and Children’s Hospital of Colorado. Cassidie is also blessed to have personally experienced an adoption of her own in 2012, completing her family of five! Cassidie loves what she does as a case worker from initial phone calls, meetings, doctor appointments, interaction with the adoptive families to delivery and counseling. Cassidie has a passion for those in need and strives to help make a difference in the lives of the people she meets. She is a firm believer in being kind, compassionate and open minded in all situations. “Unless you’ve walked in their shoes, there’s no place for judgment. A kind word or compliment can go a long way!” The bittersweet moments in adoption reminds Cassidie each and every time, why she loves what she does!