Birth Parents
We understand that the decision to place your child for adoption is not made easily and is filled with many mixed emotions -- from heartbreak to hope and everything in between. As a birth parent, you will always be an important part of your child’s story.
We honor the strength and courage of birth parents while recognizing that you have unique needs for support and care in your own healing post-placement. As you walk through this complex journey, we want to help you find trusted, reliable resources.
Profiles in Adoption: Birth Parent Experiences
A report of our findings from our 2022 national birth parent survey and birth mom focus groups.
Support and Connection
Choosing to place a child for adoption is one of the hardest things a parent can do. Even when you are confident in your decision, it still comes with grief and loss. Post-placement care and support is vital to your well-being and healing moving forward.
Your adoption professional should already be working with you to provide intentional and scheduled grief counseling, connection to other birth parents, and if applicable, assistance in navigating the open relationship. If not, use our member directory or the list below to find an organization who can help.
Search & Reunion
When searching for information about an adoption that was previously confidential, NCFA encourages that it be done in a sensitive way for the protection of all parties involved. The use of registries, state vital records offices, placing adoption agencies, and appropriate confidential intermediary support can help this process to go smoothly for everyone involved.
The laws on accessing birth records and health and background information varies depending on the state laws, the time an adoption took place, and the decisions made by birth parents and adoptive parents at the time of the adoption.
First, begin with the agency or attorney that facilitated the original placement. Most adoption professionals today provide support and reunion services.
If those services are not available, some have found success utilizing other search options such as adopted.com which is the largest adoption reunion registry website.*
*NCFA does not endorse any particular registry or service. This information is provided for reference only.
