You may have found yourself unexpectedly pregnant and researching all of the options available to you. As an expectant mother, you may be contemplating an adoption plan for your baby or you may have already made the decision to place your baby through adoption. You may be wondering where to start looking for adoptive parents.

This article seeks to share helpful information on how an expectant mother looking for adoptive parents for her child can do just that. There are many resources available to you as an expectant parent. Understanding the adoption process and how to find adoptive parents for your baby is a great first step on the adoption journey.

  1. Where should expectant moms looking for adoptive parents look?

As an expectant mother looking for adoptive parents you may be feeling overwhelmed by the process and unsure of where to start looking. There are so many wonderful resources available to birth mothers looking for adoptive parents today. We are an interconnected society and the ability to find the right adoptive family for your baby is much easier and less stressful than it was twenty or even ten years ago thanks to a plethora of resources for expectant parents contemplating a birth plan.

  1. Options Online for an Expectant Mother Looking for Adoptive Parents

As an expectant mother looking for adoptive parents you may want to start your journey online. Some expectant mothers looking for adoptive parents utilize social media to help find an adoptive family for their baby. Many hopeful adoptive parents post their desire to adopt through social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. These social media posts can be a starting point for seeing more information about potential adoptive families that are seeking to adopt. Like all of social media, be wary of the authenticity of the post to protect yourself and your heart. Many hopeful adoptive families, however, open their hearts and share their desire for building their family through adoption. They also share the struggles and joys they have faced before making this decision. There are many beautiful stories of expectant parents finding their baby’s adoptive family through these platforms.

Another wonderful way to utilize social media and the internet as an expectant mother looking for adoptive parents for your baby is to search prospective adoptive Parent Profiles through Adoption.com photo listings of hopeful adoptive parents on adoption forums. These adoption forums and adoption photo listings are a wonderful way to see a lot of profiles of hopeful adoptive families and start to think about what you want for your baby as you create or contemplate an adoption plan.

As an expectant mother looking for adoptive parents it is critical to understand that you need to work with a licensed adoption service provider. Even if you find an adoptive family for your child online through social media or other resources, you will need an adoption agency or adoption attorney to finalize the adoption and work through all of the legalities for your respective state.

  1. Using an Adoption Agency to Find Adoptive Parents

As an expectant mother looking for adoptive parents for your baby, you may begin by first contacting an adoption agency or many adoption agencies to get your questions answered. This article is very helpful in giving you ideas of questions you may want to ask each adoption agency you interview. It is also important as you take this next step in contemplating or forming an adoption plan for your baby to ask questions that come from your heart that you specifically want answers to.

CREATE A PROFILE

There are many great adoption agencies that serve both future birth mothers and hopeful adoptive parents. As the former Executive Director of the Joint Council on International Children’s Services, I was often asked by future birth mothers looking for adoptive parents how to choose a great adoption agency. There is no one right answer. Adoption.com has many resources on locating adoption agencies in your area. Their map for local adoption information is very helpful in finding reputable adoption agencies near you.

A great adoption agency could make this process easy, stress-free, and full of the support you need through services and counseling. A great adoption agency that works with future birth mothers looking for adoptive parents is The Gladney Center for Adoption. Their options counselors will speak with you when you email or call and they will set up a time to have a follow-up conversation to ensure all of your questions are answered. One of the wonderful resources The Gladney Center for Adoption provides expectant mothers is an options counselor. He or she will help you choose the right family for your baby so that you can feel confident about your choice. Their website has a wonderful database of prospective adoptive families and you can choose a family based on your preferences, hopes, and dreams for your baby. Because so many hopeful adoptive parents would like to adopt, Gladney Center for Adoption is able to select only couples who meet their strict standards through extensive background checks, interviews, adoption home studies, and personal recommendations from the couple’s employers, faith leaders like pastors or rabbis, friends, neighbors, children’s teachers (if there are children in the family), and family.

Once you decide on an adoption agency, that agency will be able to provide information on the many hopeful adoptive parents that they are working with. Your adoption agency social worker will sit with you and show you profile books of prospective adoptive parents who meet some of the criteria you want for your baby in regards to an adoptive family. You can look through as many profiles as you wish. These adoptive family profiles will include pictures of the individual, couple, or family. They will include pictures of their home, their pets, children, vacations, and hobbies. You will learn about their history as a couple or family, what they do for a living, and why they want to build their family through adoption. You may see a profile book and immediately have a feeling that you want to meet this hopeful adoptive couple or you may look through many profiles and not find the right match, that is okay. Your adoption agency will help you find the right adoptive family for your baby. You may also see family profiles and want to meet with many different families. Your adoption agency will work with you to plan a meeting with each of these hopeful adoptive parents so that you can narrow your choice.

As an expectant mother looking for adoptive parents you will have all of the resources and support you need from your adoption agency in finding the perfect adoptive parents for your child. If at any time you do not feel supported or in control of the process or even worse, you feel that you are being coerced in any way, you can and should leave that adoption agency and find one who will support you the way you need and have a right to receive. There are so many wonderful adoption agencies out there to help you as the future birth mother looking for adoptive parents.

  1. Using An Adoption Attorney When Looking for Adoptive Parents 

Many expectant mothers looking for adoptive parents may have heard about the option of using an adoption attorney to find a hopeful adoptive family for their baby. You may wonder in what circumstance you would need an adoption attorney and how an adoption attorney differs from an adoption agency. An adoption attorney can be very helpful if you have found an adoptive family for your baby already and need to legally finalize the adoption. Additionally, if you have found an adoptive family for your baby already you can also use an adoption agency to finalize the adoption for you and the adoptive parents.

Adoption attorneys also work with hopeful adoptive parents and will be able to provide many of the same services as an adoption agency. They may not have the support services agencies offer, but they work with a plethora of organizations including adoption service providers and counselors who work with the attorney to support all of the expectant mother’s needs. Adoption attorneys are specialized in finalizing adoptions in your respective state. You can not and should not use any attorney to work through the legalities of your adoption. The process is too nuanced and specialized and adoption attorneys understand the intricacies of the laws within your state. They can also help with finalizing birth parent expenses like the living and medical expenses prospective adoptive parents pay or reimburse the expectant mother for during the pregnancy. This ensures that the adoption does not cost the expectant mother anything financially. The adoption attorney you use will know the specific state adoption laws surrounding these issues.

  1. Where Else Can a Future Birth Mother Look For Adoptive Parents?

As a future birth mother looking for adoptive parents for your baby, one of the best places to start before looking for an adoption agency or adoption attorney or another adoptive service provider is to look in your own community. As an expectant mother, you would be surprised how many friends, family members, neighbors, fellow church or synagogue members, or colleagues know someone hoping to adopt. Our world is very interconnected. If, as a birth mother, you feel comfortable sharing that you are looking for adoptive parents, you may be surprised to find that you or someone close to you will know of a family hoping to adopt.

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These couples may have openly struggled with infertility for many years or they may have a child and be dealing with secondary infertility. Other families may have biological children and can conceive, but feel called or want to build their family through adoption. These hopeful adoptive couples are often open and vocal about their strong desire to adopt. Sometimes friends or family share social media posts from hopeful adoptive families that share their story and desire to be matched with an expectant mother who is creating an adoption plan for her baby.

If you find a hopeful adoptive couple through word of mouth or your local community of friends and family members, you will need to select an adoption attorney or adoption agency to help you work through all of the details and finalize the adoption. As shared earlier in the article, if you find a hopeful adoptive family for your baby this way you can choose either an adoption agency or an adoption attorney to finalize.

  1. Remember to Follow Your Heart

Most of all during this adoption journey, it is important for an expectant mother looking for adoptive parents to follow their heart during each stage of the journey. When you are looking for adoptive parents for your baby it is okay to be specific. It is not silly to want adoptive parents who have specific personalities or likes. It may be really important for you to choose a family that loves dogs or who has the same faith as you. If it is important to you and your hopes and dreams for your baby then it is an important criterion for the adoptive parents!

That being said, sometimes expectant mothers meet a hopeful adoptive couple who do not meet all of the expectant mother’s initial criteria. However, there is just something about the couple that makes the future birth mom feel like they are perfect to raise her baby and will do it in a safe, loving forever family. Trust that instinct too. Following your heart at each stage of this life-changing adoption journey is the most important thing to remember.

You will have lots of decisions to make in the coming months and your support system will be critical to helping you practice self-care and receive counseling so you can deal with the myriad of emotions that will arise in your heart. Your support system of friends, family, faith leaders, neighbors, coworkers, your adoption attorney or social worker, and a counselor will be there for you to lean on, so use them!  You should be proud of yourself for taking the first step in learning how to find adoptive parents for your baby.

Are you considering placing a child for adoption? Do you want more choices with your adoption plan? Do you want to regain more control in your life? Visit Adoption.org or call 1-800-ADOPT-98. We can help you put together an adoption plan that best meets your needs.