Thoughts Birth Parents Have During the Adoption Process
By Manuel Serritos
Learning about an unplanned pregnancy can be unnerving. This news could come at a time when raising a child might not be beneficial for you. Parenthood is a life-long decision that you might not be ready for due to the cost and time commitment. Raising a child could place you in a scenario that will make it difficult to finish school or continue work. Taking care of a child when you are working on bettering yourself is possible, but it is difficult. Knowing you are not able to balance this responsibility at this time is more than acceptable. Being in this situation, it might feel like the options you have can be rather limiting. But please know you do have options, one being Adoption Choices of Colorado.
If you need adoption help now, please call or text us at 303-670-4673 (HOPE) or visit us at Adoption Choices of Colorado.
Initial Thoughts Birth Parents Have During Adoption
During the initial period of time when you find you are pregnant, there are different choices to take. Depending on your own economic and living situation, some options might be more appealing than others. One of the main options for an unexpected pregnancy people can turn to is the termination of the pregnancy. Although this is a valid route to take with it being legal in Colorado, there are better options available.
Another option that could be turned to is parenting the child. Taking care of your child is an act of love, but it might not be possible for you right now. Raising a child is both a time and financial commitment. It can be a commitment that lasts for years on end without any breaks. It is more than okay to realize you are not ready to pursue this path at this moment.
Accepting you are not ready for parenthood at this point in life is more than an acceptable decision. A third path you should consider is open adoption.
Why Choose Open Adoption
When first searching how to put a child up for adoption, many different options are brought to you. Some of the initial results might bring you to different types of adoptions and adoption agencies in Denver. If you are looking for the best possible adoption agency in Colorado, Adoption Choices of Colorado is there for you. Regardless of the stage of your pregnancy, our caring staff will help you figure out if adoption works for you. Depending on your situation, financial assistance may be provided to you. In addition to this care, we can provide your necessities such as housing, transportation, medical care, and food. Any choices made during the adoption process are yours and yours alone. We strive to help you during this time, no matter what your decisions may be.
Although adoption might seem like a daunting process at first, creating an adoption plan is simple. An adoption plan gives you a choice when it comes to the role you want to play in your child’s life. One type of adoption which makes placing your baby for adoption a bit easier is open adoption. With open adoption, you get to choose the adopted family your baby will be going to. This decision is completely yours alone to make, and you will get to meet with the families prior. All of the families recommended by Adoption Choices of Colorado are screened so your baby will have a loving home. Depending on the agreements with the adopted family, you could have contact with your child. Oftentimes this contact is in the form of the exchange of photos, notes, phone calls, and occasional meetups. Open adoption allows you to have a role in your child’s life while seeing how you helped their adopted family.
Other Forms of Adoption
Although open adoptions do work for many, they might not be best for your own situation. If you are looking to be done with your pregnancy after delivery, there are other options available. These are semi-open and closed adoptions. With semi-open adoption, you will learn information about your child and their adopted family through your chosen adoption agency. This method allows you to see how your child is doing without having a direct role. If your pregnancy has been one you need to move on from, Adoption Choices of Colorado does offer closed adoptions. Although closed adoptions are not the most common choice, they will help provide you with a fresh start. For closed adoptions, you will receive no information about your child’s adoptive family. They, in turn, will receive no information about you besides basic medical history. Lasting contact with your child may be painful, but closed adoptions can help manage that difficulty.
An unplanned pregnancy can leave you with many different choices and feeling overwhelmed. But if you want to make a decision based on love for your child, turn to Adoption Choices of Colorado. We are here to help you every step of the way through your pregnancy, no matter what. Adoption creates love for both your child and their adopted family.
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!