A Call from the Hospital
Did you know that sometimes Bright Futures gets calls after a baby is already born? This fall, Bright Futures got a call from a woman who had just delivered a precious little girl. She sought to make an adoption plan because she was not in a stable place to raise her baby and she wanted to insure her baby had all of the opportunities that she wished for her.
Bright Futures encouraged Tasha (named changed to protect her privacy) to take the time that she needed to decide whether adoption was the right decision for her and her daughter. In order to give Tasha time and space to get to know Bright Futures and make an informed decision and then to select and get to know the adoptive parents, Bright Futures provided interim care for her baby. Interim care is a loving, nuturing option for birth families and children who come to adoption late in their pregnancy or who wish to reconsider their adoption decision fully after their child is born. In addition to being a licensed adoption placement agency, Bright Futures also licenses its own interim care homes. The moms and dads in our interim care homes tend to have a connection to adoption. They are either adopted people who wish to give to others what was provided to them at the start of their own lives or they are adoptive parents who understand the need for safe, caring places for babies while the adults around them make the best possible decisions for their future.
While her baby was in interim care, Tasha selected adoptive parents and took the time to meet them. It was important to Tasha that the adoptive parents reflect her baby's African American heritage and that each action taken be taken in her baby's best interest. The family Tasha selected had not been waiting long and were shocked to find that not only had someone selected them, but the baby was already born! During their first meeting, at an emotional moment, the adoptive mother took Tasha's hand and this show of compassion was the beginning of a beautiful connection. While her baby was in interim care, Tasha also spent time visiting with her daughter at the interim care home whenever she could. When she was ready, she met the adoptive parents at the interim care home and introduced them to their daughter. With pain and joy she watched the couple she selected begin bonding with the baby.
Tasha thought carefully about what kind of ongoing contact she would like to have with her daughter and her new family and has been in touch with the family by telephone and in person. Tasha and the adoptive family are planning an entrustment ceremony to mark the baby's transition from one family to the other and to launch her into her life with love and a sense of wholeness.