Category: Birth Parents
Choosing an open adoption is just the first step in a lifelong journey for birth mothers. In this issue of the Adoption Advocate, three birth moms share their stories and offer advice and encourage...
In honor of National Adoption Month 2020, NCFA is featuring various stories and perspectives on adoption. Today we welcome guest blogger Jessica, a birth mom, working to raise awareness about the i...
Adoption can be a positive option for all members of the triad; infants placed for adoption can grow up in a loving family, birth parents who are not ready to parent are given the opportunity to mo...
My name is Lydia, and I placed my perfect little girl for adoption two days after she was born. The raw and painful memories of that day are still so very real for me. But, the absolute joy I got ...
When you’re the first teenager to get pregnant in your school, you’re going to get talked about. I was really angry. I was angry at him, I was angry at myself. I’ve realized those were very,...
Going to school pregnant, riding the bus…that was hard. You just have all the stares and you have all the questions. Even little kids make you nervous, just staring at you. When you get pregnan...
I had just turned 18 when I found out I was pregnant. Although I was young and it was unexpected, I felt an unbelievable amount of love for my unborn child. My parents pushed for adoption, espe...
My name is Angela and I chose adoption. I am originally from St. Louis. I was born and raised there. I took the test, and I was in shock. Like, this is not happening, what about my future? Comple...
The start of any New Year is usually considered a milestone for people and organizations alike, but for National Council For Adoption (NCFA), 2020 takes on even more significance than usual. Not onl...
National news outlets have reported on the arrest this week of Arizona attorney Paul Petersen, who has been indicted on numerous charges related to the alleged trafficking of pregnant women and...
The media often presents the dramatic and heartwarming aspects of search and reunion, but for those involved, the reality is much more complex. This article explores the common questions and concern...
Introduction Historically, adoptions in the United States were strictly closed adoptions that entailed sealed legal records and absolutely no contact between the birth parents and the adoptive famil...
Words matter so much, especially when we’re speaking about something as deeply personal as adoption. Accurate adoption language can help stop the spread of misconceptions about adoption and reflec...
Curiosity about who we are, where we came from, and our significance in life is universal. Today, opportunities abound to search family history to fill in the missing pieces of the past, whether a f...
November is National Adoption Month, a time when our nation commits an entire month to focus attention on the institution of adoption. For many, it’s a time of celebrating the good that adoption a...
Over the past ten years, I've received many calls from young adult adoptees pleading with me to send them their adoption or birth records. Most are heartbreaking stories of lost documents due to fir...
Introduction When Andrew1 and his girlfriend Maria chose adoption for their daughter five years ago, Andrew was astounded that he had to sign only one form to terminate his parental rights, while M...
Thirteen years ago, I left the hospital as a proud new mom. Unlike most new moms, though, I also left the hospital with empty arms and a broken heart, as I had just placed my newborn baby boy into t...
I found out I was pregnant shortly after I began my senior year of high school. At the time, I was in serious relationship with my boyfriend Robbie. Although we were very surprised and completely un...
What is open adoption? Today, a significant majority of domestic infant adoptions are “open adoptions” in that birth parents and adoptive parents have agreed to engage in some level of communica...
Introduction: Factors that Can Influence How an Individual Deals with Loss One of the paradoxes of adoption is that, for all its potential benefits, it is nonetheless born of loss – including the ...