Are you pregnant and unsure whether or not you want to keep the baby? Consider giving up your baby to an adoption service that will help place your child in a loving home that will be able to provide for him or her. There are many benefits to giving your child up for adoption. If you want to keep the baby, but realize you can’t realistically care for the child, infant adoption might be a wonderful option to consider. Depending on the adoption agency, you may be able to keep in contact with the child (open adoption) and if it’s a closed adoption (no contact), you can often leave your contact information for when the child turns eighteen.

What Does an Adoption Service Do?
An adoption service can provide many different functions, from providing a resource for birth mothers to learn more about the process and what is provided for them, to walking adoptive families through the process of adopting a child, including what they need to prepare, a screening process, and the legal proceedings.

Some adoption services may only work within the United States, while others do both domestic adoptions and transracial adoptions. If you’re considering putting your child up for adoption, you’ll probably want to consider the domestic adoption services. Many adoption agencies work with not just infants, but also young children, so if you’ve given birth, but can no longer take care of your child, adoption services are still an available option for you.

What are Adoption Rates Like?
The United States State Department reports that in 2012, families in the United States adopted over 7,000 children. Almost 40% of adoptions are private domestic adoptions and just under 40% come from foster care adoptions.

Typically, those who adopt are married families (70%). The next pool of people most likely to adopt are single females (22%), then single males (5.5%), and unmarried couples (almost 2%). If your child goes into foster care, he or she also has a good chance of being adopted by the foster family. Almost 90% of foster families adopted to give their foster child a permanent home. Over 60% adopted for a bigger family. Almost 40% adopted due to infertility and almost 25% adopted to give their current child a sibling.

What are the Benefits of Adoption?
By putting your child up for adoption, you’re giving your child a chance at a new life. Adoption is an incredibly positive thing for all parties. Families who adopt want your child and are prepared to give him or her an incredibly loving home. Indeed, nearly three out of every four children between the ages of birth to five who were adopted were read or sang to every day, compared to half of biological children who received similar attention from their parents. Over half of adopted children eat dinner with their adopted family the majority of the time — at least six days a week.

Furthermore, almost 90% of parents who adopt say they would absolutely do the same thing again knowing what they know about their adopted child now. If you’re worried about the repercussions for your child, rest assured: over 90% of adopted children who are five years old and up have positive feelings about being adopted.

For you personally, as a birth mother, it gives you the chance to continue your life — whether that means pursuing your education or career — and offers you the possibility of achieving the goals you’ve set for yourself. You can do all this knowing that your child is in an amazing and loving home with parents who can provide him or her with everything he or she needs.

Putting your child up for adoption is an incredibly courageous and selfless act. We’re here to help make that process easier for you, to answer any questions you may have, and to guide you through the process of giving your child and yourself a chance at a new life.