Friday November 21st, 2008

Frequently Asked Questions

Adoption Home

What is Adoption?
Adoption involves three parties; a baby, birthparent and adoptive family. Adoption is a bond created through the love that birth parents and adoptive parents share for their child.

Who Can Place a Baby for Adoption?
Any individual or couple, married or unmarried, who feels that the time is not right for them to parent.

Is Adoption an Irresponsible Decision?
It takes a lot of love to place a baby for adoption. Adoption is an experience marked by growth, courage and hope for the birth parent and provides a stable, loving and nurturing environment for the baby.

Why Would I Want To Place My Baby for Adoption?
You might be alone or scared, not able to provide for yourself and wanting more for your baby. You might be young, pregnant, unmarried and feel in your heart that you cannot take care of your baby. You may have goals for yourself that make it impossible to parent at this point in life. Placing your child for adoption does not mean you don’t love your child. Making an adoption plan means you think more about your child than you do yourself.

Where Do Adoptive Families come from?
Greenleaf Family Center adoptive families come from all walks of life. Most are unable to have children of their own, so adoption may be the only method by which a couple or individual can become a "family." Through the home study process, adoptive parents are carefully studied by Greenleaf Family Center, and are waiting to take a baby into their hearts and home.

What Does It Cost?
You are not charged a fee for our services. Fees are paid by Title XX funding, insurance or United Way.

Can I Choose the Adoptive Family?
Yes. You will review various profiles of adoptive families. Once you have chosen a family, you and the family will then decide how much openness you want to have.

Who Can I Talk To before I Decide?
If you decide to make an adoption pan, our counselors will provide guidance for you. The counselor will talk with you on a regular basis to help you make sure that whatever decision you make is the best one for you and your baby. There are no simple answers, no easy solutions. If you decide to place your baby for adoption, we will help you with the details and will continue our involvement for as long as you wish. You are important to us.

How Do Birth Parents Feel after placing their baby for adoption?
In the beginning, you may feel very sad. There will be a period of mourning and then acceptance, as those feelings are replaced by hope for the future for yourself and your child.

Is it Permanent?
Yes…and because adoption is permanent, the decision should never be made too quickly. Greenleaf Family Center provides the type of counseling needed to help you think through this difficult decision.

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