Pregnant
and Considering Adoption:
Parenting Options
When you are pregnant, it is important for you and your child's
birthfather to consider the parenting options that are available
for your child. You each have legal rights and responsibilities
no matter what parenting option you choose. There is no "right"
and "wrong" decision; there is only the decision that is best
for you and your child given where you are in your life right
now.
When considering the parenting options available to you, you
will probably experience emotional ups and downs. You may feel
lonely, scared, overwhelmed, guilty, confused or anxious. You
may find it helpful to seek counseling or an appropriate support
group during your decision-making process or afterwards. Bright
Futures does not charge pregnant women or couples for counseling
or support regardless of the parenting option they choose.
We hope that the alternatives described below will help you
begin thinking about the parenting decision and help you make
a decision that will be best for you and your child.
Parenting Your Child: A decision to parent your child
involves a commitment to providing a permanent, loving and capable
home for your baby, now and for many years to come. A decision
to parent your child involves considering where you will live,
who will help with financial support, medical care, emotional
support, advice on child care and child development, babysitting
and day care, now and in the future as your baby becomes a toddler,
preschooler, child, teenager and young adult. A decision to parent
your child involves planning for your future and your child's
future. You will need to consider how parenting a child will affect
your ability to complete your education, your ability to work
full or part-time, your social life, and your personal time.
State and federally funded programs may be available to assist
you with meeting your housing, medical and food needs for you
and your baby if you are a single parent or a low-income family.
Adoption: A decision to have someone else parent your
child through adoption is another way to provide a permanent,
loving and capable home for your baby. In Massachusetts and in
most other states, adoptive parents are screened by licensed adoption
agencies or social workers to determine if they are capable of
parenting a child and if they can provide an emotionally and financially
stable environment for the child. Adoptive parents who have "qualified"
to adopt a child often prepare a letter to birth parents with
pictures and information about themselves that you can read to
see for yourself what type of parents and what type of home the
adoptive parents could offer your child.
Adoption agencies have different ways of working with pregnant
women and couples and you may feel comfortable with one agency
and uncomfortable with another. An adoption agency should treat
you with kindness and respect, should involve you in selecting
the adoptive parents, and should encourage you to be involved
in creating an adoption plan that is right for you and your child.
