Learn how to cope with adoption guilt

The guilt that sometimes accompanies adoption is normal. However, it can be destructive if you ignore it. The type of adoption guilt you may experience occurs because you now have a beautiful baby to love and raise thanks to a birth mother who made a difficult decision.

These feelings occur when you develop compassion and empathy for the birth mother as she goes through her pregnancy, delivery and saying goodbye to her baby. Fortunately, our Texas adoption agency can help you cope with your emotions before, during and after the adoption.

Adoptive parents may feel adoption guilt before the baby is born

When you begin the domestic adoption process, you need to market yourself to birth mothers. You may feel guilty as you point out all the advantages you can offer a child, knowing that the birth mothers probably don’t have the resources you have.

Remember to ask yourself why a woman might place a baby for adoption? A woman may have one reason or many, but she is hoping for adoptive parents to raise her child because she cannot. Remember that you bring something to the table just as the birth mother does.

Saying hello to your baby as the birth mother says goodbye

You need to prepare yourself for the many emotions you may experience as your child’s birth mother says goodbye to the baby. You may want to discuss adoption guilt with a counselor at our Texas adoption agency when you talk about your plan for adoption.

While it’s important to remember that the goodbye is very difficult for the birth mother, it’s also a time of joy and hope for you. Try not to feel guilty about your happiness because you know that there is also sadness during this time. You are receiving a great gift, but you are also giving your baby and the birth parents a great gift, which is the gift of a loving forever family.

Coping with your emotions after the adoption

When you bring your baby home and begin parenting, you may feel that you need to be a perfect parent. These feelings don’t reflect the reality of parenting. You are human, and parenting is hard. You are a parent like any other mom or dad. Allow yourself to feel tired, frustrated or sad at times. It’s part of the process.

However, if you need help coping with adoption guilt, you can contact the staff at our Texas adoption agency. We are always here to help.