Giving My Baby Up for Adoption in MO, What’s the Adoption Process?

Starting your adoption process in MO is an exciting but anxious time! As a birth mother, you get to choose your entire adoption process. This all starts with you choosing your private adoption agency, like Adoption Choices of Missouri. We are here through your entire adoption process.

We know how worrisome starting a Missouri adoption process can be. You are not alone. There are so many birth mothers who went through the same worries as you. Your feelings are valid.

How to Connect with a Missouri Adoption Caseworker

We are here 24/7 for birth mothers like you through both calls and texts. We also have an online chat that you can message us through, and you can speak to someone who will help you through the first steps of your adoption process in MO. Connecting with one of our adoption caseworkers is an important first step because it will get you right into the start of your adoption process.

Your adoption caseworker will see if you are interested in going through with adoption through our private agency here in Missouri. At this point, you and your adoption caseworker, also known as the birth parent counselor, will have a meeting to see exactly what you will need during your adoption process. You will have this counselor throughout the whole process. He or she can help you through your anxieties and everything that you may be feeling throughout your pregnancy and even your adoption.

You will complete the necessary paperwork to start your adoption process. This is all the legal paperwork you will need to sign to continue with the adoption process steps. During this signing, you will need to bring proof of pregnancy with you. You can get this from your OB/GYN at any point during your pregnancy, no matter how early.

You Can Pick Which Type of Adoption in MO You’d Like

As the birth mother, you choose everything in your adoption process. One of these choices is choosing which type of adoption you want. This is a big decision because this affects you and your baby well after he or she is given to the adoptive parents after birth. This decision gives you the choice of the amount of communication and privacy. This all will be negotiated between you and your child’s adoptive parents. These three types of adoption are open, semi-open, or closed, each having its own amount of communication and privacy.

Open adoption allows open communication with your child and the adoptive parents. Identifying information will be shared in this type because it is as the name alludes: open. There is little privacy when it comes to this type, but negotiation can always change it to be whatever you and the adoptive parents want. Through open adoption, there can be communication that can include phone calls, texts filled with pictures and videos, written letters, and maybe the occasional visit, if everyone in the party wants that.

Semi-open adoption is very similar to open adoption, but the communication decreases, and the privacy increases. This communication may just update every month or every other month of your child from the adoptive parents. You will still get to see your child grow up through pictures in this type of adoption, but it won’t be as much as open adoption would allow. This is a great choice for you if you still want to stay in touch with your child and the adoptive parents but want more privacy and less communication.

Closed adoption is a great type of adoption if you want to try and move on from your adoption process. This type of adoption has no communication and is full of privacy. This type doesn’t allow you any future communication with your child and the adoptive parents. This may be very hard to choose when it comes down to it, but if it’s the right decision for you, that is okay!

Choose Adoptive Parents Through Our MO Adoption Agency

This is a very exciting part of the adoption process because you will review family profiles with your birth parent counselor. In this part of the adoption process, you will pick the best family for your child. Choosing the adoptive parents is a huge decision because they will be the ones you are giving your baby up for adoption to, and they will be the ones raising your child as their own.

You get to choose the adoptive parents based on all sorts of characteristics and personalities. This can be from if they are single or married to what their career is. You can even have a conference call or maybe even a visit with the adoptive parents if you choose. This could seal or break your decision, but this is an important decision.

You Get to Plan Your Hospital and Delivery Plan to Finish the Adoption Process

The day your baby is born is one of the most important days not only for your life but also for the adoptive parents. Although this isn’t a life that you thought you’d be living with an unplanned pregnancy, it turned into something beautiful and gives the adoptive parents a chance to have a child to raise as their own.

You get to choose how your child’s birth date will go. You get to choose the hospital you will deliver your baby at, if you meet the adoptive parents before giving your baby to them, and how everything will go on your child’s birth date.

Your child’s birth is a very important date, and this day will change your life and the adoptive parents’ lives forever. This is the day you will meet your child, and the day you will give your child away for adoption officially. Your birth parent counselor will be there with you at the hospital as an advocate.

Post-Placement After an Unplanned Pregnancy

Your post-placement plan can include the agreed-upon communication between you, your child, and the adoptive parents. It can also include post-placement counseling. It’s okay to ask for help. Birth mothers do not have an easy journey, no matter if their birth parent counselor is by their side the entire time. Having an unexpected pregnancy and going through adoption is traumatic. It is a lot for someone to go through, so if you need help, that is okay! It is valid to ask for help. We want you to have the best care and support during, and after the adoption process, so we have this option for you.

You and the adoptive family may agree upon post-placement communication, which will vary and, at a minimum, include pictures and letters via a web-based program. This may be your post-placement plan, but it is the best for you and your life whatever you choose.

Are You Ready to Start Your Adoption Process in MO as a Birth Mother?

No matter what time of your pregnancy, you can contact us here at Adoption Choices of Missouri, and we will connect you with an adoption professional who will help you figure out exactly what you want for your adoption process.

Adoption is a huge decision and is very important, so we understand being anxious and not knowing how or where to start. That’s what we are here for! We want to help you, a birth mother, through everything, including your pregnancy and adoption in Missouri. We’ve seen so many adoption processes and want to help you through your unique adoption process as well.

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: Molly Allington is an aspiring author born and raised in Syracuse, New York. When she’s not watching her latest Netflix obsession, you can find her nose deep in a book or in her writing. She has been writing books since she was twelve and is in the process of trying to get her finished books published. Molly has a BA in Creative Writing from Southern New Hampshire University. With her writing, she is hoping to share supportive information and help as many people as possible. Once she starts her own family, she is wanting to adopt.