Step One: Contact Adoption Choices of Arizona
Even if you’re undecided about whether or not you want to place your baby for adoption, call, text or email us today. Our supportive adoption staff will explain the adoption process and answer any initial questions you may have. Before you commit to adoption, let us provide the information you need to make an informed decision.
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Step Two: Make Your Adoption Plan
Our caring team is here in Arizona and available to meet with you in person (or virtually if you want!). We will help you create an adoption plan that reflects your unique situation and needs during this pregnancy. Decide the type of family you want for your child and reviewing parent profiles. You can choose which of these parents is best suited for your baby and decide how much contact you would like with the adoptive family and child. There is no one size fits all adoption plan and we want to make sure you are aware of all the choices available to you on your adoption journey.
Step Three: Resources To Take Care Of You
Placing your child up for adoption can be a difficult time. Many birth mothers in Arizona don’t know that making an adoption plan allows an adoptive family to provide help with living expenses, food, transportation, legal, and medical expenses. The adoption process is not merely about the adoption itself, but taking care of you and your baby. Eating well in a stress-free environment and getting yourself regular prenatal care during your pregnancy will ensure you have the safest and healthiest delivery possible. Transportation to your doctor appointments, help with filling out applications for government aid programs, and making sure you have safe and stable living arrangements are just some of the resources we provide to birth mothers.
Step Four: Support Through Counseling
Adoption is a personal and emotional journey. This is why one of the most important aspects of an adoption is counseling. For birth mothers, a counselor is her main line of support, a person she can go to with no judgement and no other agenda than to help you navigate this emotional time. From working through the decision to adopt to telling friends and family, or forming a relationship with an adoptive family and coming up with a birth plan, your counselor will be here to prepare you for each step. At Adoption Choices of Arizona, we provide the counseling that is essential to birth parents both before and after the birth of a child.
Step Five: The Legal Process
Knowing your rights as a birth mother under Arizona adoption law is key to protecting yourself and your baby during this time. Working with a private adoption agency like Adoption Choices of Arizona will give you the peace of mind knowing your rights are protected. While many large adoption agencies can feel impersonal, we are a private adoption agency devoted to you and your child. We will walk you through the legal processes and paperwork in person to make sure you are fully knowledgeable of the legal actions taking place.
Step Six: Place Your Baby
When the time comes for your baby to be born, we will already have a birthing and hospital plan in place. If you wish, we will be your team of support at the hospital and can work with the nursing and hospital staff to ensure your plan is fulfilled. The adoptive family will arrive to begin bonding with the baby and would love to get to know you as much as you are comfortable. But the choice is yours. If you would like to remain anonymous and have little to no contact with the baby or adoptive family, we will ensure your privacy is respected. Upon discharge from the hospital, the baby will go directly home from the hospital with the adoptive family and never into foster care.
Step Seven: Final Documentation
Nothing will happen without your consent. As a birth mother, your child is yours. It is up to you to decide what is best for him or her. No decision will be finalized until three days after your child is born. At that time you will make the final decision. Once the papers are signed, your child is legally under the custody and responsibility of his or new family. You can relax knowing that you have the time to make a decision that is right for you and your baby.
Step Eight: Post-Adoption Plan
At Adoption Choices of Arizona, we know the adoption journey is difficult, but it doesn’t end with birth. After the adoption process is complete, by law you are entitled to six weeks of post-pregnancy care in the form of living expenses and counseling. Post-adoption support is often just as important in terms of maintaining a healthy emotional state. We encourage birth mothers to look ahead to this time and plan what your life may look like after the pregnancy. Will you join a birth parent support group? Will you go back to school or work? At Adoption Choices of Arizona, we are here to help you think through and plan more than just your adoption. We want your story to be a success and will support you as best we can.
