Answering questions
Right now your mind is filled with questions and concerns. These questions are normal and healthy, and we want to help you by answering as many of your questions as possible—right from the start!
We can help you in every step of your adoption and meet your needs with sensitivity and compassion. We can assist you in choosing an adoptive family, take care of the legal work, and help with expenses if needed. We believe that you will come to understand adoption to be a wonderful plan for both you and your baby. Your decision to plan adoption will never be the result of any pressure on you.
Where to start:
You can start by calling 1.877.314.2367, or by filling out an on-line information form.
Your Options
You have a number of options when making an adoption plan for your baby. You can select the adoptive parents for your baby, make decisions about your hospital stay, and choose to continue contact with the adoptive parents through pictures and letters following the placement. A caseworker will tell you your options and help you make an adoption plan you feel is best for you.
Why Plan Adoption?
Some birth parents choose adoption because they believe in the sanctity of life and are opposed to choosing abortion to end their unplanned pregnancy. Some realize that they are too young and they lack the maturity to be good parents at this time. Some already have other children and cannot take on the financial and emotional responsibility of raising another child. Some are trying to finish their education or are working and are not able to spend the time they know they should to provide for the child’s needs, so they are seeking a stable, two parent family to give their baby the best possible start in life.
Working With An Agency
We can assist you with your needs during your unplanned pregnancy. We can educate you about adoption, provide counseling, help you choose a family for your baby, take care of the legal work, and assist with medical and living expenses if needed.
Transracial Adoption
At AAI, we have families ready and waiting to adopt children of all races and ethnicities.
Choosing a Family
You can choose the adoptive family for your baby by selecting from the parents screened by our agency staff, or you may choose someone who has been recommended to you by someone you trust like a relative, friend, pastor, doctor, etc. Often, the baby can come home from the hospital directly with the family you select.
Meeting the Family
You can also meet the adoptive parents and get to know them throughout your pregnancy. If you wish, they also might be able to be present at doctors’ visits and at the hospital during delivery. We will also help you arrange a mutually acceptable schedule for the exchange of letters and pictures after the placement.
How Can You Be Sure Your Child Is Taken Care of?
Adoptive parents approved by Adoption Associates must meet the standards of being a stable family, having excellent personal references, employment verification, health and medical forms, and approved clearances by the State Police and Michigan Protective Services. If your adoption includes the exchange of photos and letters, you’ll see for yourself how well cared for and loved your child is.
Birth Parent Support
AAI employs four women who are birth mothers; they are ready and willing to share their stories with you, and are very knowledgeable in adoption from a birth parent’s point of view. Our agency offers continual support to you before and after you place your baby with the family you select. If you would like to talk with another birth mother one-on-one, we’ll be happy to put you in touch with someone who has already made an adoption plan.
Your Hospital Stay
You have many choices available to you during your hospital stay. Your caseworker will help you make a written plan of how you would like things to go at the hospital. It includes letting the hospital know how much contact you would like with the baby, who you want to visit with you and/or the baby, how much involvement you would like the adoptive parents to have, requesting a private room on or off the maternity floor, etc. This written plan will help things go smoothly and alert the staff about how to best serve you during your stay.
Host Care
Many birth moms choose to have their baby go directly home from the hospital with the adoptive family. However, your baby can stay with a loving host family if you are unsure of your decision or until the legal release procedures are completed. Host parents are extensively interviewed and specifically chosen by Adoption Associates They are stable, two-parent families and have extensive experience in infant care. Host mothers are not employed outside the home, so the baby is always cared for by one primary caregiver. Your baby will usually be the only child in the home placed by any agency. These special people will get your baby off to a great start!
What Your Baby Will Know
Your decision for adoption was based on love and wanting the best for your baby’s future. To express this, you may want to write a letter to your child sharing special information about yourself or send a gift that can be given to him or her in the future.
Additionally, we’ll help you plan for the exchange of pictures, letters, mementos, etc. with the adoptive parents. The adoptive family will respect your need to know that your child is loved and happy and will present you as a loving birth mother who made an unselfish and difficult decision for the future of your baby.
Permanence
After you go to court and sign a release of parental rights, the child legally becomes a permanent member of the adoptive family.
How will you know this is the right decision for You and you baby?
Only you can make decisions regarding your unplanned pregnancy. We’re here to provide information on how the adoption process works and the benefits it can provide for you and your baby. You can be assured your baby will be placed in a loving, two-parent home where all of his/her material and emotional needs will be met.
In the end, your choice of adoption will be based on your belief that it is a wonderful plan for both you and your baby. It will not be the result of any pressure on you.
