Financial Assistance for Birth Mothers in Missouri: Helpful Resources for Your Adoption Journey

If you’re an expectant mother, you might be feeling a little overwhelmed right now. Now that you’re pregnant, it’s especially important to prioritize your physical and mental health. You need to focus on taking care of yourself and your baby. The last thing you need right now is to be stressed about financial worries. Fortunately, you are not alone. There are many sources of financial assistance for birth mothers. It takes a village to bring a child into this world and, as a birth mother, you have access to plenty of services and programs that will ensure you have a safe, healthy pregnancy and a smooth adoption process. 

If you choose to place your baby for adoption, there are no costs for you. You may even be eligible for financial assistance, depending on your unique circumstances and needs. At Adoption Choices of Missouri, we will help you get the financial support you need to cover any pregnancy and adoption expenses. 

Financial Assistance through Our Agency

Adoption Choices of Missouri offers services and support for birth mothers at no cost. You will work with an adoption caseworker, who is a trusted guide, resource and advocate. They will help you through every step of your pregnancy and adoption journey. They are available 24/7 for support. Here are some of the ways they can help: 

• Making an Adoption Plan: Your adoption caseworker will provide you with all the information and advice you need to create an adoption plan that suits your needs and preferences. You will be matched with an adoptive family you trust to love and care for your baby. 
• Medical Care: Your prenatal appointments and any hospital fees will be covered. 
• Transportation: If you need rides to your doctor’s office or the pharmacy, your adoption caseworker will arrange for transportation.
• Housing: If you find yourself in an unsafe or stressful living situation, your adoption caseworker will make sure you have a safe place to live. 
• Living Expenses: Your adoption caseworker will help you assess your financial situation and make sure you receive the support you need to cover living expenses (e.g. rent, food, maternity clothes and other court-approved expenses). In many cases, your child’s adoptive parents may help cover some of your living expenses as well.
• Mental Health Care: Choosing adoption is incredibly brave! You may experience a jumble of emotions throughout your pregnancy and adoption journey, and that’s totally normal and understandable. Luckily, Adoption Choices of Missouri offers counseling throughout your pregnancy and post placement. Your adoption caseworker will be a source of compassion and emotional support. If you’d like, we can also find a birth mother support group for you. 
• Legal Representation: Your rights as a birth mother will be protected. You don’t have to worry about any legal fees. If you choose to work with an adoption attorney, we will pay his or his fees.  

Financial Assistance through Government and State Programs

There are also government programs designed to support pregnant women. Your adoption caseworker will help you figure out if you’re eligible for any of these programs and walk you through the application process. 

• Medical Care
• MO HealthNet for Pregnant Women (Medicaid) or Show-Me Healthy Babies (SMHB) – Through these state programs, you will receive healthcare coverage throughout your entire pregnancy. Prenatal, labor and delivery and postpartum services are provided. 
• Healthy Eating: What you eat while you’re pregnant affects not only your health, but also your baby’s health, so getting enough food and eating nutritious foods are important priorities. There are a few different programs that will help you cover the cost of groceries so you can eat healthy meals fit for a pregnant woman. 
• WIC Program (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children) – Through WIC, you’ll be able to add healthy foods (e.g. fresh produce, whole wheat bread, eggs) to your diet. A WIC nutritionist will customize a food package that meets your needs. Using your eWIC card (like a debit card), you can shop at approved stores for groceries that are on your WIC Approved Food List. 
• SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program aka Food Stamp Program) – You’ll receive an EBT card loaded with the amount of food stamp benefits you’re approved to receive. Then, you can buy food at an approved SNAP retailer. You can also buy plants and seeds so you can grow your own food. 
• Safe and Affordable Housing: You may be able to receive reduced rent on an apartment through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Additionally, public housing and housing choice vouchers are available through your local Public Housing Agency (PHA). 
• Missouri Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) – If you need help with utilities, this program will help cover your heating bill from November through March. 

It Takes a Village: Financial Assistance for Birth Mothers

If you’re unexpectedly pregnant, it is okay to need help. It is okay to be worried about making ends meet throughout your pregnancy. It is okay to be unsure about what you want your adoption journey to look like. Whatever emotions you’re feeling are completely valid. Do not be afraid or ashamed to ask for help, to lean on your support network (including your adoption caseworker) or to access resources that are designed specifically for pregnant women like you. 

There are many options for financial assistance for birth mothers. At Adoption Choices of Missouri, we’re here for you, whether we are providing you with our agency’s free services or helping you sign up for government programs. Your and your baby’s best interests, health, nutrition and safety come first. 

Adoption Choices of Missouri serves birth parents statewide and beyond, please call us or text us to learn more! Call us toll free at 877-903-4488 or, in Missouri call or text us at 1-816-527-9800

Meet the Author: Zoë Bowlus, a writing and editing enthusiast, considers herself a grammar groupie and suffers from a weakness for wordplay and working with words, whether she is reading, furiously typing away, playing Words with Friends, or filling in the Sunday New York Times crossword puzzle.  

She was adopted from Vietnam as a baby and began exploring her adoptee identity in Asian American Studies and Communication courses at UC Santa Barbara. As she combed through adoption literature for her last essay of college (she graduated with highest honors in 2020), she was inspired to use the research, editing, and writing skills she developed in college and her personal experience to create resources and share stories about adoption in a professional context. Writing for Adoption Choices, Zoë hopes to support people on their adoption journeys and to grow as an adoptee herself. 

Zoë is an aspiring cat lady who is allergic to cats. She enjoys curling up with homemade hot chocolate, kettle corn, and a good book but laments the absence of a feline reading companion. Her bedside table and bookshelves are overflowing with World War II historical fiction, Asian American and Mexico-U.S. borderlands fiction, contemporary fiction, grammar and style books, and collections of profiles. She spends an inordinate amount of time playing bridge.  

An avid NBA fan, Zoë lives in Sacramento, the primary reason anyone would root for the Kings. She holds out hope that they will make it to the playoffs during her lifetime.