What are the Benefits of Adoption for Birth Mothers?
Facing an unplanned pregnancy can cause feelings of fear, isolation, and helplessness. It might seem like life has turned upside down. Many women feel trapped, unable to see a way out of a situation they did not feel prepared for. But, there’s still hope. You are not alone, and you have options available to you.
Adoption Choices of Colorado offers an entire support network to help you sort through your unplanned pregnancy options, show you how many choices you do have, and the potential benefits of adoption for birth mothers. For many expectant mothers, choosing adoption is one of the most difficult decisions you’ll make in your entire life, but it can also provide tremendous benefits.
Choosing Adoption Provides Financial and Medical Assistance to Birth Mothers
Many birth mothers simply cannot afford a baby. Medical care during pregnancy is expensive, and you may not have insurance. Then, after the baby is born, the financial burden of raising a child, for many birth parents, is simply too much.
When you choose adoption, Adoption Choices of Colorado can provide you with financial assistance to help you cover the costs of medical care and some living expenses during your pregnancy. Depending on the type of adoption you choose, the adoptive family may help with expenses as well. Our financial assistance is given on an as-needed basis, so be sure to consult with your adoption caseworker to see if you qualify.
You have Control over Your Adoption Plan and Your Child’s Future
You, as the birth mother, will be able to make an adoption plan that works best for you. Adoption Choices of Colorado has professional adoption counselors to support you, as well as to help you understand your choices and what each option means for you and for your baby. Among those choices, you’ll be able to select the adoptive family who will raise your baby.
Potential adoptive families are carefully screened through our adoption agency to ensure that your child will be raised in a safe, loving and supportive home. You will also be able to choose how much or how little contact you want to have with the adoptive family and your child post adoption. While closed adoptions are an option, they aren’t as common as they were in the past. Today, while each adoption plan is customized to the comfort level of both the birth mother and the adoptive parents, some level of openness is becoming more popular.
In some cases, the adoptive parents play an active role in the pregnancy by attending doctor visits and being present at the hospital for the birth. Other birth mothers choose more limited contact, such as the adoptive family sending pictures and updates, at least once per year, after the adoption. So, if being involved in your child’s life as he or she grows is important to you, you choose either an open or semi-open adoption plan. All of these choices are within your control as you design the adoption plan that works best for you, and we are here to help you every step of the way.
You Help Create an Extended Family through Adoption
By choosing adoption, you help build a family. Many families have prepared, planned and long for the opportunity to raise a child, but cannot without an option such as adoption. It is a popular choice for couples and individuals who struggle with infertility, same-sex couples and single parents. Other families can have biological children, but either prefer to adopt or have already had biological children and want to expand their family through adoption.
Your child will have the opportunity to grow up in a stable home with loving parents and know that their birth mother selflessly placed him or her for adoption in the hope that they’d live a better life. If you desire it, you, as the birth mother, have the chance to develop a unique and wonderful relationship with your child’s adoptive family that can benefit everyone in the adoption triad.
Benefits of Adoption for Birth Mothers
Choosing adoption is a hard decision, but it can also be one of the most rewarding choices you make. Our adoption agency in Colorado can provide the resources, tools and support to make your adoption as stress-free and empowering as possible. With the guidance of professional adoption counselors, you can create an adoption plan that makes you comfortable and confident in your decision.
Adoption Choices of Colorado can help relieve the financial stress of an unplanned pregnancy and allow you to continue down the path you’ve chosen for your own life. Whether that’s continuing your education, advancing your career, or raising the family you already have, the options listed above are just a few of the many benefits for adoption for birth mothers. Additionally, by creating an adoption plan, you have control over your adoption journey and can choose the adoptive family who you feel would be the best for you and your child.
If you are thinking about starting the adoption process and want to learn more about adoption, don’t hesitate to reach out. We are here to help you in any way we can. 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!