If you are pregnant and considering adoption in Alabama, you may have many questions about the process and about whether it is the right choice for you and your child. You may have searched for something like “placing my baby for adoption” or “putting my child up for adoption” and felt overwhelmed by the information that you found. You may even have more questions than you started with.
Gulf Coast Adoptions can help you understand the process of an Alabama adoption to help you decide if adoption is right for you and your child.
Making The Right Decision
At Gulf Coast Adoptions, you will have the opportunity to talk to experienced adoption professionals who have personally experienced adoption. Our team consists of birth parents, adoptive parents and adoptees. They can discuss your Alabama adoption options with you from this perspective, understanding the many conflicting emotions and thoughts that you may be dealing with.
You may also want to talk to the child’s father and other family members or close friends. The more support the better!
Adoption can be a loving choice if you feel as though you are not in a place to parent a child or cannot parent additional children.
At Gulf Coast Adoptions, we are committed to providing birth mother support throughout the adoption plan. Alabama does allow the birth mother support through her pregnancy and six weeks post-pregnancy.
Cost & Financial Support
Some mothers who place a child for adoption may feel as though they are not emotionally ready to become a parent, but finances are a common concern for many expectant mothers as well. You may be worried not just about being unable to provide for your child as a parent but about whether there is a cost to you for the adoption. In addition, prenatal care can be expensive.
There is NO cost for you to put your child up for adoption with Gulf Coast Adoptions. Furthermore, a number of pregnancy-related expenses may be covered for you, which can include not just your medical expenses, but the cost of maternity clothes, rent, utilities, counseling, and other living expenses that are deemed reasonable.
Although adoption is a legal process, any fees related to the adoption will be covered by the potential adoptive parents.
Gulf Coast Adoptions will fully explain to you what can be covered throughout your pregnancy and post-placement.
Creating an Adoption Plan
Some people still have an idea of adoption that disempowers the birth mother. At Gulf Coast Adoption, you are in charge of how the birth and adoption plan unfolds.
In addition, you can also determine how much contact you want to have with your child and the adoptive family. Some adoptive families and birth mothers may develop close relationships and would prefer an open adoption with visits.
If you prefer not to have any contact at all, you can specify this as well. The choice is yours to make.
We will go over all of these details with you at Gulf Coast Adoptions and work to create an adoption plan that works for you.
Choosing a Family
You may feel overwhelmed at the thought of choosing a family to place your child with, but Gulf Coast Adoptions will work with you to make this choice. This can include talking to you about the kind of family that you envision your child growing up with. We have a diverse selection of potential adoptive parents waiting to be matched.
You can also talk, FaceTime, or meet in person the prospective adoptive parents to ask them questions and discuss your thoughts and hopes about your child’s life prior to being officially “matched” with a family.
Creating a Birth Plan
Gulf Coast Adoptions will also work with you in creating a birth plan. You can specify who you want in the delivery room with you and the extent to which the adoptive family will be involved as well as any other details about the birth that are important to you.
If you want to be the first to hold your child, you can specify this as well. In addition, you can include how much time you want to spend with the child after the birth.
Some mothers want to write a letter to their child or give them a memento. You can put this in your birth plan too.
Not every birth goes exactly to plan but having a blueprint in place allows you to articulate your wishes and also gives the medical professionals a framework for helping you have the experience that you want at the hospital.
Legal Considerations
It is important to know your rights and legal obligations as a birth parent who is considering placing your child for adoption.
In most circumstances in Alabama, you will need the consent of the father to put the child up for adoption. There are exceptions to this, such as if the father does not respond to a notice about adoption, the father is unknown, or if his parental rights have already been terminated. The staff at Gulf Coast Adoptions can fully explain this to you based on your situation.
If you are a minor (under the age of 14 or do not have the mental capacity to consent), the court will need to appoint what is known as a guardian ad litem before you can give consent to place your child for adoption. This is simply a person who is appointed by the court to look after the interests of a young person.
A guardian ad litem may not be required for a minor father if he has given what is known as implied consent by his action, such as not responding to a notice about adoption after a certain time period.
In Alabama, you can sign adoption papers prior to the birth of the child. Once you have given consent, the circumstances in which you can revoke that consent are narrow and must be done within a certain time period.
First, after you have signed the consent, you have five days from that time or the time of the child’s birth, whichever comes later, to withdraw your consent. You will sign the document before a judge who will explain this and the other points below regarding consent and its withdrawal to you. The judge will also give you a form that allows you to withdraw your consent.
Within 14 days of the child’s birth or your signing, whichever comes later, you may withdraw consent if the court considers it reasonable and in the best interests of the child. In some cases, a person may be pressured into giving a child up for adoption. If a court finds that there has been what is called “undue influence,” fraud or a duress, then the adoption can be revoked for up to one year after the final decree.
The decision to place a child for adoption can be a difficult one but also ultimately rewarding. Your pregnancy may have been unplanned, or perhaps it was planned but your circumstances have changed.
Gulf Coast Adoptions can be your compassionate partner in helping you decide what is best for you and your child. You can contact us online or by phone at 850-999-7977 to discuss your situation and learn more about placing your child in a loving home.