“Giving Baby Up” for Adoption in Tennessee [A Complete Guide]

If you’re pregnant and considering adoption, you may wonder how to go about “giving your baby up” for adoption in Tennessee.

Considering adoption in Tennessee is a brave act because it puts your child’s needs above your own. And although choosing adoption for your baby is great, that doesn’t mean it’s an easy decision to make.

If you’re considering “giving your baby up” for adoption, you probably have a lot of questions, like:

• Is “giving up my baby” for adoption “giving up”?
• What are my options before and after I decide to put up my baby for adoption in Tennessee?
• When putting baby up for adoption, do I get to pick my baby’s adoptive family?
• What happens after I give birth?

This guide will give you all of the most important answers. If you’d like to talk to a helpful adoption professional, you can contact us online.

These state-specific steps will make “giving baby up” for adoption in Tennessee easier:

• Step 1: Consider your options.
• Step 2: Create an adoption plan for you and your baby.
• Step 3: Select an adoptive family for your baby.
• Step 4: Prepare for your baby’s adoption placement.
• Step 5: Plan your life after adoption.

How to Put Your Baby up for Adoption in Tennessee

Step 1: Consider Your Options

The most challenging step you will take on your journey to “giving a baby up” for adoption in Tennessee is considering your options.

When facing an unplanned pregnancy in Tennessee, you have three options:

• Abortion
• Parenting
• Adoption

Each of these choices is valid. You are the only person who knows which option is best for you. 

Although many prospective birth mothers in Tennessee choose adoption, each mother does so for different reasons. Some of the most common are:

• You’re not ready to become a parent
• Becoming a parent would be too stressful financially
• The father of the baby isn’t interested in providing help
• You believe adoptive parents can give your child a wonderful life

And while every adoption story is different, a prospective birth mom will choose adoption if she thinks it’s the best choice for her situation.

Step 2: Create an Adoption Plan for You and Your Baby

Once you’ve decided that placing baby up for adoption in Tennessee is the right decision for you, it’s time to make an adoption plan. This plan puts you in charge of the adoption process, and you’ll make it with the help of an adoption agency.

What’s an adoption agency? It’s a licensed organization staffed by adoption specialists who can help you through every step of the adoption process. The following are reputable adoption agencies in Tennessee:

• American Adoptions: American Adoptions is a national adoption agency. Contact this agency to speak to an adoption specialist. You’ll learn detailed, fact-based information about “giving baby up” for adoption in Tennessee. 
• Miriam’s Promise: This Tennessee adoption agency is a non-profit organization.
• Harmony Family Center: This Tennessee-based organization provides family and child-centered services to its community. It also handles adoptions.
• Catholic Charities of Tennessee: This is a Catholic adoption agency in Tennessee. It also provides community resources.
• Hannah’s Hope: This Christian adoption agency serves Christian prospective birth mothers and adoptive families in west Tennessee.

Step 3: Select an Adoptive Family for Baby

You have total control when choosing the family who will adopt your child.

Choosing the right adoptive family for your baby is an exciting step in the adoption process. Once you choose an adoptive family for your baby, you can start to imagine the happy life your baby will have.

Many prospective birth mothers choose to have an open adoption to stay in contact with their baby and the adoptive family. After selecting your baby’s adoptive family, you can continue to get to know them. You also get to decide the type of relationship you’ll have with your baby and the adoptive family. 

Remember, “giving a baby up” for adoption isn’t the end of your relationship; it’s the start of a different, yet fulfilling, connection.

And if you’d like to start looking at adoptive families today, you can click here to view hundreds of active waiting family profiles.

Step 4: Prepare for Your Baby’s Adoption Placement

The next step in putting baby up for adoption involves a lot of paperwork and planning — but don’t worry. Your adoption specialist will be there to make sure everything goes according to plan.

For example, you’ll need to follow Tennessee guidelines and consent laws. Your adoption attorney will help you through this process and answer questions about legal documents. And, like everything else in adoption for prospective birth mothers, this legal help will be completely free.

You’ll also continue to get to know your baby’s adoptive family and start to create your hospital plan.

Creating a hospital plan is an important step in the adoption process. Your hospital plan outlines your labor plan and delivery preferences. When creating this plan, you should include:

• Your hospital or birthing center preference
• Who will be present during your baby’s birth
• How long you will spend with your child before placement
• And more

Prospective birth mothers in Tennessee should know they must wait three full days after baby is born before legally putting baby up for adoption. If you have questions about this rule, contact your adoption specialist for advice.

Step 5: Plan Your Life after Adoption

Your relationship doesn’t end once your baby is home with their adoptive family. Depending on the type of adoption you choose, you, your baby, and the adoptive family can continue to build your relationships.

For example, open adoption allows you to choose how much contact you have with baby and baby’s adoptive family. Your new relationship could include:

• Regular card or letter exchanges: You and baby’s adoptive family can exchange cards.
• Regular photo exchanges: You and baby’s adoptive family can exchange photos of baby’s “firsts.”
• Regular life updates: You and baby’s adoptive family can write letters or emails.
• Regular calls: Speak to baby and baby’s adoptive family on the phone.
• Regular video calls: Speak to and see baby and baby’s adoptive family via video chat.
• Regular, planned in-person visits: Plan in-person visits with baby’s adoptive family to stay up-to-date on baby’s life.

It’s important to note that you still have access to your adoption specialist after giving birth to your baby. Because if you choose open adoption in Tennessee, you’re not “giving baby up” for adoption; you’re changing the type of relationship you and baby have. Your adoption specialist will help you make an adoption plan that fits your needs.

The Gift of Putting Your Baby up for Adoption in Tennessee

When you hear yourself say, “I’ve decided to give my baby up for adoption,” you may feel like you’re “giving up” your baby. This is 100% not true. Because when you choose adoption, you are not abandoning your child. You’re making a loving, selfless decision that took countless hours to make.

To show adoption is a thoughtful choice, the positive adoption community uses this type of wording:

“Placing baby for adoption”

Or,

“Putting baby up for adoption”

This wording helps express the love that goes into this critical decision.

If you’d like to talk to an adoption specialist about placing your baby for adoption in Tennessee today, you can contact us now. We’ll connect you with a helpful agency.