How to Involve Your Family in Your Adoption Plan
You have entered the adoption process, but it’s a little scary on your own. What should you do? Well, if you’re looking for some assistance, a lot of birth mothers try to involve their families or the people closest to them. It never hurts to have a support team, especially if you’re experiencing something new that you know very little about.
Here are some ideas about how to involve your family in your adoption plan and what roles they can potentially take up to ease your worries:
How do I Approach my Family about being Involved in My Adoption Journey?
It might be intimidating, but just ask! Usually, it’s good to be direct if you want help. There’s, unfortunately, a lot of social stigma hovering over adoption, despite that the large majority of adoptions are success stories.
If you have a large, hands-on family, it might be a good idea to just pick one or two people to come with you on your adoption journey. There’s a balance you should probably find — you don’t want to be overwhelmed because you feel like you have no support, but you also don’t want to be overwhelmed because you feel like you have too much support. Work on finding what fits for you.
What Parts of the Adoption Process can My Family Help With?
There are so many potential areas of the adoption process where your family could help out. Outside of just emotional support, they can be present for a lot of the logistical stuff. There’s counseling available to you and the people close to you. There’s also picking out an adoptive family, planning a hospital stay for the birth of your child, and working with your adoption caseworker. Although you get the final say when it comes to the care of your child, family input can be very important.
Here at Adoption Choices of Colorado, we always work to create a smooth experience for you, and one of our first suggestions to help with that right away is in making sure you begin to set up your own personal support team.
What Should I do if My Family has very Little or No Interest in My Adoption Journey?
Not having the support of your family can be difficult. We understand that not at all families will be supportive of your choice. If this is the case, and you feel that you can’t reach out or talk to your family about your adoption journey, it’s totally okay to talk with your adoption caseworker.
While you may not be related by blood, your adoption caseworker will help you choose the path that works best for you. As mentioned before, there is also counseling available. You can talk through anything confusing or stressful that you are facing before, during, and after the adoption process. Our adoption counselors at Adoption Choices of Colorado are well-equipped and have worked with a number of birth mothers before, so they can talk to you about options that may have helped others in the past.
There have also been plenty of birth mothers who have put trust in close friends or important people in their lives that they are not related to in any way. If a family support team isn’t working out, sometimes family can be found elsewhere. What matters most is that you are able to get through the adoption process and have the level of control and emotional strength you deserve.
What Should I Do if I Still Have More Questions?
If you would like to learn more about how to involve your family in your adoption plan, you can always visit Adoption Choices of Colorado and reach out to us through our contact form on the main website page. Everyone needs support, especially if they are someone who is new to the adoption process. As you gather your own family to help you out, we hope to be the additional family in your back pocket, ready to assist you.
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.
Meet the Author: Nathan Dyer is a university student majoring in Communication Arts with a radio/TV/film focus. He enjoys writing professionally and dealing with hands-on problems in real-world scenarios. Among his hobbies is hiking, which always encourages him to explore new places. He looks forward to crafting written materials in the future that serve to help people from all walks of life.
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!