In many cases, a child will not be willfully abandoned by
his or her birth mother. If, by some unfortunate circumstances, a man deserts
his wife and son or daughter and the child’s mother dies (or, perhaps worse,
the other way around), the young boy/girl could be left without a family and
home overnight. In other instances, meanwhile, a biological mother
One thing to consider with placement through an agency is
the extent to which adoption information may be offered. This is to say that a birth mother
should think about whether she would like to pursue a closed adoption or an
open adoption. Traditionally, closed adoptions have been the norm regarding domestic adoptions
Adoption help via placement
services is generally conceived of as something that is decided during
pregnancy/before birth. However, a birth parent may very well opt to employ a
“wait-and-see” method of sorts and surrender her child after birth.
Adoption information in public records indicates
as much; while some couples will be insistent on adopting an infant, others
will be happy to take in a young person of any age.
If a mother is dead set on
giving her child up for adoption, help should be administered right away to
expedite the placement process. The choice is rarely so clean-cut, though.
Adoption information should, in addition, be
offered by concerning forgoing placement and raising the child. After all, a
birth mother may come to regret putting her child up for adoption.
The above assumes that birth fathers would neither be involved in
decision-making nor would they be a part of a child’s life. Nevertheless, even
in cases of pregnancy out of wedlock, birth fathers may have an objection to
placement of a child they helped create. If a birth mother maintains a close
relationship with her child’s father, she may want to consult him before making
any lasting unilateral decisions.
