How to Involve Your Family in Your Adoption Plan
We’ve all heard the phrase, “it takes a village to raise a family,” and it is a true statement. Children are one of the greatest responsibilities, along with one of the greatest rewards, any family or parent could ever have.
We all need a good support system in our lives, and, for many, it can come from trusted family members.
Adoption Choices of Missouri is going to share some tips on how you can involve your family in your adoption plan.
Show Your Family the Adoptive Family You Chose
Screening and venting through numerous prospective adoptive families can get a little overwhelming sometimes. Going through all the choices and options may even become tiring. So, a couple of fresh pairs of eyes could exactly be what you need to help figure what adoptive family is exactly right for you and your baby!
Even if you decide that maybe you don’t want their input, you can still show and present the decisions that lead up to you making your adoptive family choice. Taking ownership and showing pride in what you’re doing opens up an opportunity for them to ask questions and help them understand.
Take the Time to Educate Your Family about Adoption
For many birth mothers, making the final decision to give their baby up for adoption has the potential to severely weigh on them. Involving your family in your adoption plan, and breaking down the steps and processes, brings them in as additional support. Some birth mothers may find it awkward at first, or even hard to explain, but patience and perseverance are key in this.
Your family will appreciate you taking the time to educate and tell them all the necessary ins and outs of adoption. They will see the sentiment behind your actions and will thank you for it. Pointing them in the direction of the same resources you found and received will help paint a clearer picture for them on why you chose your adoption choice in the first place.
Helping them understand could also lead them to assist another birth mother who is in need of help somewhere else
Build an Open Channel of Communication with Your Family
No one’s family is perfect. We all know the challenges we face when talking with our relatives or close household members. Ideally, we want our family to be accepting of all the hard decisions we have to make and have them give us unwavering love at every turn. But, in some cases, family can disapprove and even shun birth mothers when the discussion of adoption is presented. Though it is unfortunate, it is not impossible to handle and possibly not impossible to convince them that adoption is the best course of action for you and your baby.
When finding yourself in this situation, know that not all hope is lost. There’s always something to be said to better their understanding or even a chance to shift their perspective. Creating the space and time where you all can speak freely and discuss your feelings about the adoption will help in the endeavor to clear the air between you all.
Learning how to involve your family in your adoption plan can seem pointless when they already seem against you, but the harder you fight for it, the closer you both will be to understanding each other. Family can be a huge pillar of support for you when first going through the motions of the adoption plan,a few disagreements do not have to end the relationship you have with them.
Remind Them that They are Still Your Family
No matter the circumstances, no matter what happens or the choice you make in the end, your loved ones and family are still that village you can rely on. Even with your child being put into the care of an adoptive family, it does not diminish the family value they hold with you and them. Encourage them to see it as an extension and not separation. When birth mothers give their baby to adoptive families, she increases her child’s support circle. She creates an even bigger village than she initially had before establishing her adoption plan.
With this type of thinking, your family will be more welcoming of the change and will see it as an addition instead of a subtraction. Adoption is not meant to tear people apart, but to create new families and set the stage for a better life for your baby and give them an even brighter future.
Involving Your Family in Your Adoption Plan
Even with knowing how to involve your family in your adoption plan, the work does not end there. It’s now time for you all to move forward as a unit, so that you not only support your child during the adoption process, but also support you through the transition.
For all things adoption, find and contact us here and let’s get started on your plan.
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: My name is Alexander Charles Cooper, I come from a family of four that originates from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I, along with my younger brother Greyson were born in North Carolina, three years after my parents had wed and moved to the state. Alexander shares his birthday with Maya Angelou, which he takes great pride in.
Growing up, Alexander had the privilege of having both parents in his life and a stable upbringing in which he was surrounded by family and friends. He believes that much of his family foundation is built on faith which has given him a discipline and practice that has allowed him to discover and build his spiritual self. He is also interested in politics and worldly news that allows him to excel in American literature, philosophy/ethics, and higher learning.
From that, his passion in writing bloomed and he found his true calling: “I wished to create and write for a living and know it will be what makes me happiest. My only wish is for me to bring about positive change for others both near and far and leave a lasting legacy that contributes to the overall wellbeing and joy of others.”