Adoption can be a great option for pregnant mothers in Massachusetts who want the best opportunities in life for their child, so you might have a lot of questions about the adoption process. Placing a baby up for adoption in Massachusetts is a brave, selfless act motivated by care and concern for your child and their future.
If you’re considering adoption in Massachusetts, here are some common questions you might have:
- What is the adoption process like?
- How do I give my baby up for adoption in Massachusetts?
- Where are there adoption agencies in Massachusetts?
- What are the steps of adoption in Massachusetts?
To get answers to important questions and more like these, it’s a good idea to get in touch with a licensed adoption agency in Massachusetts. There, you can get detailed information about your unplanned pregnancy options from a trained, supportive adoption specialist.
In the meantime, keep reading to learn more about how to place a baby up for adoption in Massachusetts.
Is Choosing Adoption Really “Giving Up?”
Even if you are giving your baby up for adoption in Massachusetts, adoption is not about “giving up.” Adoption benefits your baby, but it can also benefit you:
- You can receive financial assistance
- You can focus on your career
- you can continue and finish your education
- you can follow your dreams
- You can pick the perfect adoptive family
Choosing adoption is about providing your child with a loving family, a chance to pursue their dreams, and a quality education. Choosing adoption can also benefit you by providing financial assistance and allowing you to select the perfect adoptive family for your child. It’s a choice made out of love and the desire to secure the best future for your child.
Adoption offers different options:
- A loving family for your child
- The possibility of a relationship with your child through an open adoption
- The opportunity for your child to pursue their dreams
How to place a baby up for adoption in Massachusetts [The 5 Steps]
Every adoption experience is different. That being said, there are some common steps that every prospective birth mother goes through when she begins her adoption journey. Continue reading to learn more.
Step 1: Talk with an Adoption Agency in Massachusetts
After making the decision to place your baby up for adoption in Massachusetts, you’ll need some help working through the adoption process. That’s where adoption agencies come in. An adoption agency serves as a support for prospective birth parents throughout their entire adoption journey. Some of the things adoption agencies will help you with are:
When you choose adoption in Massachusetts, you’ll be working with specialists who can help you find the resources you need and connect you with a network of families ready and eager to adopt and love your child. Because adoption agencies work in adoption, they have a storehouse of knowledge and are ready to help guide you through the entire adoption process.
There are local adoption agencies and national adoption agencies. A national adoption agency is much larger and thus has a larger pool of resources to support expecting parents who have chosen adoption. A local adoption agency can only connect you with resources in your state or region and, therefore, will have a smaller pool of families to choose from.
If you work with an adoption agency in Massachusetts as a prospective birthing parent, you’ll have an assigned social worker who can connect you with financial assistance that can be used toward expenses such as maternity clothes, rent and utilities.
The agencies listed below can help you get started:
Step 2: Create an Adoption Plan
After you’ve spoken with an adoption agency, it’s time to make your adoption plan. An adoption plan helps you understand what your expectations of your adoption experience are. With the help of your adoption specialist, you will:
- Determine what kind of adoptive family you’re looking for
- Decide how much contact you want to share with the adoptive family before, during and after placement
- And more
When you place a baby up for adoption in Massachusetts, you’ll also be in charge of making your own birth plan. In a hospital plan you’ll work out details like:
- How long you’d like to spend with your child in the hospital
- If you’d like for the adoptive parents to be in the room
- Would you or the adoptive parents name the child
- If you’d like to take pictures with the adoptive family and your child
Don’t worry if you need to make adjustments to your adoption plan or hospital plan later on. It’s your adoption, and you’re in charge of every step.
Step 3: Pick the Perfect Adoptive Family for Your Child
Choosing the right adoptive family when you “give up” a baby is a deeply personal decision. While ultimately the decision is yours to make, you may want to consider things like what their values are, what kind of future they expect for the child, and what kinds of opportunities they could provide the child with.
When working with an adoption agency for your unplanned pregnancy, you can view profiles of parents who are ready and eager to adopt. At a minimum, potential adopting families have their legal background and mental health check.
They will also undergo a home study where, among other things, a social worker stops by the adoptive family’s house to make sure that they and their house are safe and ready for a child. Adoption agencies will add an extra layer of screening to their process. However, what adoption agencies screen for varies from agency to agency.
Through different profiles, you can get to know multiple parents who are ready to adopt and then choose which family is the best fit for you and your child. Because national agencies have such a wide network of families who are ready to adopt, it is more likely that you’ll find an adoptive family that best fits your expectations.
Step 4: Get to Know the Adoptive Family
After you’ve selected the adoptive family for your child, you can get to know them! Your initial meeting with the adoptive family could take place by phone or video call. After you get to know the adoptive family a little more, you can branch out and text them, or you could have an in-person visit. It’s important that you feel comfortable with and enjoy your relationship with the adoptive family. There are three types of adoption:
- Open
- Semi-open
- Closed
In open and semi-open adoptions, the birth parents of the child can maintain a relationship with the adoptive family and their child on whatever grounds they choose. For example, the relationship could range from email updates and phone calls to in-person visits and exchanging Christmas presents. In closed adoptions, the birth parents do not know or meet the adoptive family, and after placement, there is no contact between the birth parents, the child and the adoptive family.
If you choose an open adoption for your unplanned pregnancy in Massachusetts, you’ll have a life-long relationship with the family, so getting to know the adoptive parents is a great opportunity to establish your unique relationship with them. You can also determine how you’d like to frame your relationship with the adoptive parents. Although you’ve put your child up for adoption in Massachusetts, you can still have a fulfilling relationship with your baby and the adoptive parents for many years to come.
Step 5: Plan for the Birth and Life After
After completing your adoption paperwork at the hospital, your child will be placed with their adoptive family. But that doesn’t mean your relationship with them is over! If you choose an open or semi-open adoption, you can still contact your child and the adoptive family through pictures, letters, emails, video calls, and visits. As you decide the nature of your adoption, it’s important to consider what kind of contact you’d like to maintain.
Getting Started with Adoption
If you’ve decided that adoption is the best option for you, you should contact an adoption agency. An adoption agency has all of the resources you need to help you throughout the adoption process in Massachusetts. You should feel comfortable asking adoption agencies as many questions as you’d like — choosing to put your baby up for adoption is a big decision. Working with an adoption agency can help ease the process and identify the best future for your child.
