Pregnancy can be a difficult process whether it be expected or unexpected. Specifically, making the decision about who should raise the baby can feel overwhelming and complicated. There are many options and resources too, you may have more time than you think to decide. We’re here to help.
Foster care is a temporary arrangement in where a child is placed in a home, facility, or group home while their family is unable to provide for them. The goal of the program is to ensure that the child is safe and properly cared for. In most states foster care is not a voluntary option for birth mothers due to the overloaded systems. Usually, Child Protective Services takes the child away from their home and the rights of the parent are terminated. This usually does not allow the parent to have any say in the child’s placement.
The process of foster care usually begins with a referral about a child’s well fare being compromised. Local agencies then conduct homesteads to look for signs of neglect or abuse. If abuse or neglect is evident the child is then removed from the home and placed temporarily. The child is then placed in a home with caretakers who have been trained and approved by child welfare agencies. Due to the oversaturated systems, children may also be placed into group homes (homes with 5 or more children) or institutions based upon age and special care requirements. Following placement, a case plan is developed for the child.
Kinship Adoption
During the foster care process, after a child is removed from the home, child protective agencies first check for relatives willing to take the child in. The kinship caregiver will then go through a similar process to that of a foster parent of training and approval, during this time the child will be temporarily placed with the caregiver. Following home study and approval, the case goes through family court to finalize adoption. The court process involves hearings to evaluate what is in the child’s best interest. In some cases, birth parents may have their rights terminated prior to the completion of adoption or they may agree to adoption. After the court approves the adoption, there is a final hearing to sign papers and make the child the legal child of their kinship caregiver.
Private Adoption
Private adoption offers birth parents the flexibility of choice. The two types of private adoption are independent and agency adoptions independent adoption is when birth parent and prospective adoptive parent find each other without an intermediary. They can find each other through word of mouth, ads, and online platforms. This platform usually involves adoption lawyers to finalize paperwork. This type of private adoption does not have any intermediaries to monitor the best interests of both parties.
Agency Adoption provides an intermediary for both birth parent and prospective adoptive parent. Agencies like Adoptions from the Heart facilitate the process, offer counseling, matching, and recommend legal services. Agencies like this are important especially for birth parents because they offer options counseling without pushing parents into adoption, they find resources for parents considering parenting and stay connected with birth parents before, during, and after provision of all services including parenting resource counseling.
Overall, there are many options when considering having the baby and not parenting. Untimely it is up to you what is best for the baby and you.
