Curious about adoption?
Every adoption is unique, just as every birth parent is unique. New Life can work with you at any stage of your pregnancy, even if your baby is already born, to help you make an adoption plan.
As a pregnancy care center and licensed adoption agency, New Life Family Services operates from a two-worker model. By this we mean that we have one team of social workers that works with those faced with an unplanned pregnancy and another team that works with families pursuing adoption. Our two separate teams of social workers enable us to provide professional, confidential and unbiased support to those faced with an unplanned pregnancy, as well as to those looking to adopt.
Steps involved in making an adoption plan
Provide Medical and Social Information
During one of your sessions, you will receive a packet of information to complete about you and your family's medical history. This packet will be given directly to the adoptive family that you have chosen. It does not contain any identifying information, but it does provide the family with an extensive medical history that can be used to provide future medical care for your child.
Choose an Adoptive Family
You have the opportunity to choose an adoptive family based on what is most important to you. Part of this process involves discussing with your social worker the level of openness you would like to maintain with your child and the adoptive family. You can then view profiles of adoptive families that fit what you are looking for in a family. A profile is a booklet of information about the adoptive family that contains a letter written by them, a summary of their home life and pictures of the adoptive parents, their families, and their life. New Life Family Services has specific criteria for every adoptive family completing an adoption through our agency. Learn more about these criteria, and the process of adoption for an adoptive family.
Meet the Adoptive Family
After you have had a chance to look through the adoptive family profiles, you can choose a family that you would like to meet. During the Face-to-Face meeting, you will have the opportunity to ask the family questions as you spend some time getting to know them in person. After the first Face-to-Face meeting, you may want to have additional meetings with the family to help you decide if this is the right family for you and your child.
Prepare for the Hospital and Birth Experience
You can count on receiving support from your Pregnancy Support Social Worker as you prepare for your hospital time and the birth experience. This includes assisting you in developing a written plan about your options such as who you want present at the time of birth, and other important details. You may also choose to have an entrustment ceremony, which is a special time set aside to honor the decision that you are making for this child, and gives you an opportunity to acknowledge the importance of this decision for your child.
Choose Fos/Adopt or Interim Care
As a birth parent, you can choose to have your child go home from the hospital with the adoptive family (which is called a Fos/Adopt placement) or you may decide on interim care for your child, until you are ready to make a final plan. In Minnesota, you cannot sign any final adoption papers until at least 72 hours after delivery; therefore, you will need to complete some necessary paperwork granting your permission for either the adoptive family or the interim care family to provide care for your child until your final adoption papers are signed.
Finalize Your Decision
To continue your adoption plan, you are required by Minnesota law to sign final adoption papers (also known as voluntary consents). Learn more about your legal rights as a birth parent.
Receive Support
After the birth of your child, you will have the opportunity to continue to meet with your Pregnancy Support Social Worker for grief support. In addition to individual sessions with your social worker, you will have the opportunity to participate in Uphold, our post adoption support group for birth mothers. You will also be invited to an annual Birth Mother Dinner, which is held the Friday night before Mother's Day.
Information on our Post-Adoption Services
