All About Birth Fathers
Considering placing your baby for adoption is a very tough decision. There are a lot of factors that might influence you! Your family life, your partner, your career—there is a list that can go on and on. Most times, a birth mother and a birth father work together to choose the best option for themselves and their child. Sometimes, however, a birth mother might make the decision on her own, without any involvement from a birth father.
Overall, the goal of adoption is to find a loving and caring place for your child. At Adoption Choices of Arizona, we know that not all families look the same! Everyone experiences a different family dynamic. Whoever in your family is involved in your adoption is your choice! The adoption process is hard, but you don’t have to be alone going through it.
Birth fathers, in particular, receive a lot of stereotyped characteristics from those who don’t fully understand adoption. Just like how birth mothers face the harsh opinions and misconceptions surrounding their adoption, so do birth fathers. Let’s discuss the role of a birth father during adoption and what these misconceptions are.
What is A Birth Father?
The term ‘birth father’ is used to refer to the biological father of a child. When discussing adoption, we can assume that the child will be placed for adoption or is being considered for adoption. Knowing both the terms ‘birth father’ and ‘birth mother’ is important when trying to understand the dynamics of adoption.
Birth fathers are the biological fathers of their child. They may or may not have parental rights when an adoption is being planned. This is something many women are curious about, especially if they do not want the father involved in the child’s life. Something we have to understand as a society is that women often face abusive and manipulative relationships. If the woman is facing an unplanned pregnancy, she may not want the father to know about the adoption. Not all women receive the support and care they deserve from their partners, and as an adoption agency, we understand that. We are available for unplanned pregnancy help. We also might even be able to help you plan your adoption without the involvement of the birth father.
Depending on your specific situation, we might be able to move forward with the adoption. Beforehand, you would need to talk through your options with an adoption specialist. With a professional, we can talk legally about how your adoption would proceed. While we cannot guarantee it, we can work together to make your adoption what you want it to be.
Misconceptions that Follow Birth Fathers
At Adoption Choices of Arizona, we want to ensure all of our birth parents that the misconceptions following adoption are just that—misconceptions! We don’t want you to feel influenced through the opinions of others when it is really your thoughts and instincts that matter most. Every family is different! We feel confident knowing that birth fathers do not follow or fit the stereotype many people assume they do.
Adoption used to be a secretive, taboo subject that wasn’t often discussed in public. It was viewed as a shameful and distasteful act, and it was often not approved by a judgmental society. Nowadays, adoption is a normal idea that we can talk about openly! Most women are open about their adoption journey and experience and no longer feel the need to keep it a secret.
However, the misconceptions that follow birth fathers and their characters are still around. Many people believe misconceptions like:
- Birth fathers are mostly teenagers
- Birth fathers are typically unsupportive
- Birth fathers don’t want contact with their child
- Birth fathers are unsupportive and uncaring
- Birth fathers are not involved during the adoption process
- Birth fathers are absent from their child’s life
These misconceptions are pretty vague and assume a lot about birth fathers. Most women and birth mothers don’t experience adoption in this way! Birth fathers can and want to be involved in the adoption process and help the birth mother on her adoption journey. If you want to hear and learn more about these common misconceptions, reach out to an adoption agency nearby. Your local adoption agency can help you define how hurtful these misconceptions are and create an understanding about how birth parents experience adoption.
What Role Does a Birth Father Play During Adoption?
Many people assume that a birth father is not involved in the decision-making process. In actuality, a birth father can be very influential! People like to assume that an unplanned pregnancy stems from being careless and irresponsible. This is not the actual case. The belief, however, suggests that birth fathers are unsupportive of adoption because they are not ‘present’ in the birth mother’s life. All of this put together leaves a negative outlook on birth fathers, which is where all of these misconceptions come from.
Every birth father can focus on a different aspect of the adoption process. Some birth parents even split their priorities between the birth mother and the birth father. What is important to remember is that every family looks different—we all come from different backgrounds and experience different things. What one person considers a complete family is not always going to be reflected in another’s mind. If we remember this, we can begin to dispel these misconceptions that surround birth fathers and their actions.
If you are considering adoption for yourself or want to know more about the adoption process, you can reach out to adoption agencies in Arizona. We know how stressful the process can be, and never want a birth mother or birth father to feel alone. We can provide unplanned pregnancy help, one step at a time.
