The Option of Last-Minute Adoption: Deciding to Place Your Baby for Adoption from the Hospital
Choosing to place your baby for adoption is not an easy decision. While planning as early as possible is ideal, it doesn’t always work out that way. Some expectant mothers realize at the hospital that parenting their baby is not the right choice for them. That’s okay! Circumstances can change. It’s still not too late to place your baby for adoption.
Whatever your situation, choosing adoption is a brave, selfless, and possibly overwhelming decision. Adoption Choices of Colorado can help. We have the resources to handle last-minute adoptions, and will help you through the adoption process, even if the baby has already been born.
How Long do I have to Decide to Make a Last-Minute Adoption?
Maybe you had every intention of parenting your baby until after the baby was born, and now you’re not so sure. An adoption counselor from Adoption Choices of Colorado can meet with you at the hospital to explain your options. They can help you determine whether or not you want the adoptive family to take the baby home directly from the hospital, or if you may want more time to make your final decision.
If you aren’t certain you’re ready to relinquish parental rights yet, infant adoptions in Colorado can take place up until the child is 12 months old. This gives you time to try parenting your child and see if it is right for you.
Other options include our adoption agency sending an adoption caseworker out to help you go through the proper paperwork to relinquish your parental rights. This option allows you to leave the hospital on time with the peace of mind that comes from knowing that your baby will be placed in a loving home and the right adoptive family.
Picking the Right Adoptive Family in a Last-Minute Adoption
Even with less time, you still have control over your adoption plan. Our adoption agency will send an adoption professional to you with information on prospective adoptive families to help you choose. Our adoption professionals are here to help you create an adoption plan that makes you comfortable. While you may have decided last minute to place your child for adoption, many of these waiting adoptive families have been preparing for a long time to become parents and are ready to love and care for your baby immediately.
Post-Adoption Support with a Last-Minute Adoption
Even if you know placing your baby for adoption was the right decision for both you and your baby, it’s natural to experience grief over your loss. Adoption Choices of Colorado continues to support you even after the adoption. We offer post-adoption counseling services and birth mother support groups to help you through the grieving process.
One particular birth mother support group our adoption agency is partnered with is called Lifetime Healing. The founder, Ashley Mitchell, is a birth mother herself. She created this support group to establish a safe harbor for birth mothers from all walks of life. It doesn’t matter if you’ve placed one time or multiple times. If you’ve placed recently or it’s been years. All birth mothers are welcome.
If you are interested in learning more, don’t hesitate to consult with your adoption caseworker about the meeting dates and times. You can also learn more about Ashley and her organization through visiting her website.
Is Last-Minute Adoption Right for Me?
If you’re not ready to be a parent — no matter the reason — it’s okay! Adoption is a responsible and selfless choice. Through adoption, a loving adoptive family will receive a precious and long-awaited gift, and your baby will grow up in a nurturing household with tremendous opportunities.
If you find yourself realizing, even after the baby is born, that you may not be ready to parent, last-minute adoption is still an option and Adoption Choices of Colorado can help.
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: After graduating from University of Michigan with a degree in Education, majoring in English and Social Sciences, Brianne Davis has spent her adult life as an educator; first in the public schools, later through martial arts. Her ability to convey difficult concepts, navigate varied learning styles, and always keep it interesting defined her reputation as an impactful instructor. Many of her early published blogs centered on the goal of helping other instructors effectively teach children for whom learning is a struggle. Once an empty nester, she committed to sitting in traffic less and writing more. With those goals in mind, she, along with her husband and dogs, packed up, sold their family home, and moved to the banks of the Columbia River in Central Washington’s wine country, where the pace of life is slower and the sun shines brighter. Realizing in our modern age, more of us turn to the internet for information than ever before, Brianne, now dedicates her time to educating others through blog writing.
As a life-long information junkie, Brianne enjoys taking deep dives into new topics, then condensing them in an interesting way to convey valuable information in a relatively short amount of space. Once her career, Brazilian jiu jitsu and mixed martial arts remain hobbies, along with boating, reading and traveling.
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!