The first thing you should know about birth mothers is this: no two birth mothers are alike. There is no “typical” birth mother, so shake any stereotype you might have. Their experiences with adoption are all unique, but no less valid. That being said, most birth moms will share a few common threads. Most people who have never been touched by adoption don’t know these things about birth mothers, and it can be frustrating for birth moms (and everyone in the adoption triad) to see misconceptions being circulated. So here’s your opportunity to learn. These five things may seem simple, but it’s important that you understand this about birth mothers:
Never for a moment are children placed for adoption unloved or unwanted. Their birth parents love them. Their adoptive parents love them. Birth and adoptive families have always loved their children and will always love them. Choosing adoption wouldn’t be possible if birth moms loved their children any less, because adoption means putting the needs of your child above your own. Birth moms never stop thinking about their children, nor do they stop loving them.
“Giving up” for adoption is a common phrase, but in no way does a woman “give up” when she chooses adoption for her child. These are hurtful phrases that make it sound as if birth moms carelessly set aside their children, which couldn’t be further from the truth. When a woman decides to place her child for adoption, it’s after a great deal of thought, heartache and painstaking consideration. She then carefully chooses the family who will raise her baby. Never make it seem as if this were the easy choice for birth mothers, because it was the hardest choice.
Most birth moms will, in time, find peace and acceptance with their decision. They’re happy that their child is being raised by loving parents. But that doesn’t mean that they won’t still grieve the loss of their child. Remember that the birth mom’s entire family (her parents, grandparents, siblings, other children, etc.) all lost out on the chance to love and know this baby, and may grieve that loss, too. There are so many joys in adoption, but there are also losses experienced by everyone. One of those losses is the loss of the birth mother’s opportunity to raise her child. That loss never goes away, and birth moms may grieve in different ways, and in their own time. Understand that even though a birth mother may not regret her decision, she can still grieve her loss.
Today, 9 out of 10 adoptions are open, meaning birth parents have some kind of contact with their child and their child’s parents. An open adoption relationship usually sparks a lot of questions from people who don’t know much about adoption. Open adoptions can mean whatever the people in that adoption want it to mean. For birth moms, it absolutely does not mean that they’re trying to step on the toes of the adoptive parents. Everyone involved can benefit from a positive open adoption relationship, especially the child, and that’s what’s most important.
Placing a baby for adoption is still fairly stigmatized. Birth moms may have faced pressure to raise the baby themselves, or to have a family member raise the baby, when they already had their hearts set on adoption. She may have made this difficult choice without the much-needed support of her friends, family or community. She may still keep her brave journey a secret because she’s worried it’ll change someone’s opinion of her. More than anything else, birth moms want their children’s adoptive parents to speak well of them to their children. Many birth mothers fear that their child will not understand why they were placed for adoption. Some birth moms worry that their baby’s parents won’t talk about her at all — that she’ll be erased from their family’s story. Birth moms hope that their children’s parents respect them, and that they talk about adoption (and birth parents) with their child with a tone of love and respect.
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If you don’t have any experience with adoption, please continue to learn about this common way families come together. Birth mothers (and all members of the adoption triad) will thank you for speaking respectfully and from a place of education about adoption! Want to learn more about what adoption is like from the eyes of a birth mother? Follow ‘Thoughts from a Birth Mother’ for one birth mom’s perspective. Check back at the Considering Adoption Blog soon to find out what adoptees want you to know and what adoptive parents want you to know.
In this season of love, adoption ranks at the top of our list of things we adore. The passion our family has for adoption and the love it brings to us and through us is one of the dearest treasures we will possess in our lifetime. Its impact on our life and the lives of the ones around us will be a glimmer of love shining bright in a world full of clichéd feelings and admiration. For this season, we will remember our top five loves of adoption for us and those we know who have been affected by adoption.
The opportunity for multiple families to offer love for a child, whether the child is biologically connected to you or comes home through adoption, sparks joy in the anticipation of relationships that could flourish. Most adoption experts will recommend an open adoption for families involved so that relationships can be maintained throughout a child’s life. This has not only proven to be healthier and more beneficial for the child, but it allows the (birth and adoptive) family members to extend grace and appreciation to one another. Each family learns to value the members that make up the support system that loves and sacrifices for the child and exhibits hope for the future.
Love in action is a great description of what adoption is. Our family has experienced a perspective shift from focusing on our daily selfish desires to seeing the world through the eyes of a birth mother, an adopted child, and those bystanders who witness an adoption story. We see a need for the lesson of love and compassion that adoption conveys as well as our responsibility to proclaim the importance of adoption and its impact on all those involved. This perspective shift has allowed us to be less inwardly focused and see how adoption has impressed such valuable understandings of life and love on our family.
Our joy does not depend on our circumstances. We have seen many of the highs and lows of what adoption brings, and we know that adoption does not always produce only happy moments. There can be anxiety or stress, fear or sadness, discouragement or confusion. But we know that in all of these conditional feelings, joy represents adoption as a whole. We remain in our joy because we know the unhappy moments don’t define us or our story; our joy is constant because we know adoption will produce the love that runs deeper than a situational grief. Unhappiness does not ruin circumstances, but rather places us in a position to appreciate the love that is unconditional.
Adoption is teaching our girls the deepest ideas of love and true beauty. As parents, we strive to foster the innocence of a child’s love and take opportunities to help them flourish in their purest form. In our conversations about adoption with our daughters, we get to focus on sharing the love from our family with another baby and her family who needs it. We also get to demonstrate love in action for our girls for a baby and family who may not look like us, have the same background or interests as us, or even carry similar ideas of family. We have the opportunity to meld our devotions with another family and create a love story that will leave an impact on our girls and how they love in the future.
Probably the greatest love of our family’s adoption is that it allows us to share our story with others. Our adoption love story started way back when my husband and I started dating and shared our desire for adoption someday in our future. Today, we have come so far from those late-night conversations to the reality of our adoption process and all that has happened to bring us to this point. We take pride in being able to share the details of our story with others to inspire them with a beautiful love, a thought of how their family can assist in adoption in some way, and to bring hope and encouragement in an otherwise dismal world. We always pray that by sharing our story we can somehow impact another’s life for the better.
Jill is a 32-year-old wife and mom. She has been married to her husband, Brannon, for eight years and has 5-year-old and 1-year-old daughters. Jill and her husband are currently in the adoption process to bring another baby into their home. Jill lives in a small community in Kentucky. She has her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Spanish and obtained her Master’s degree in Christian Ministries. Jill’s passions are her faith, her family, writing, playing sports, and eating good food.
If finding the best informative open adoption articles feels like looking for a needle in a haystack, then we’ve got you covered. Here is our guide to some of the best open adoption articles for everyone in the adoption triad — along with what makes each of them so helpful when preparing for an open adoption.
Choosing adoption for your baby doesn’t mean that you won’t play an important role in your child’s life. If you’re curious about the lifelong benefits of an open adoption, here are some great articles for women considering adoption:
Your adoption professional can tell you everything you need to know about an open adoption. But what about the personal experiences from women just like you? Adoption testimonials from birth mothers describe the feelings that you might be going through right now, along with how their lives have changed since they placed their children for adoption.
There are unbelievable benefits to choosing open adoption as a birth mother. But what about open adoption when you’re an adoptive family? If you’re worried about choosing this type of post‐placement contact, we hope that these articles will help clarify some things.
Does the idea of an open adoption make you feel just a tad bit wary? If so, the best way to understand the open adoption process is to read about it from adoptive families who’ve lived through it. Here are some of the best testimonials to help put your mind at ease that we recommend for adoptive families new to adoption.
Every open adoption is different — especially for adoptees. If you’re an adult who’s looking for informational resources and stories you can relate to, below are some of our favorite open adoption articles.
Your open adoption story will be as unique as you are. While this list might not have every open adoption article on it, we hope that it gave you some great ideas and inspiration for what your open adoption can look like.
It feels like we all just did this financial dance, but tax season is here again. For many adoptive families, that means taking advantage of the Adoption Tax Credit. Here’s what you need to know about this benefit, and how it can help your family:
The purpose of the Federal Adoption Tax Credit is to help offset some of the financial burden of adoption for families, which, as you likely know, can be very costly.
The tax credit is one way that federal and state governments try to help keep adoption affordable for families. It’s an important financial resource, particularly for the families who struggle to afford this family-building option and for the children who are in need of adoptive families.
If you paid “qualifying adoption expenses” in 2018, you may be eligible to benefit from the Adoption Tax Credit. The credit is nonrefundable, so it only benefits individuals with tax liability (taxes owed).
Some of the “qualified adoption expenses” that the IRS would deem eligible include:
So, if you paid any of those expenses in 2018, you may be eligible to claim the Adoption Tax Credit.
If you work for a company that has adoption benefits and you used those employer-provided benefits to reimburse adoption expenses this year, you likely won’t be eligible for the Adoption Tax Credit, although you should check with your tax professional to be sure in your situation.
There’s also an income limit on the tax credit based on modified adjusted gross income (MAGI). For 2018, the maximum amount available begins to phase out for families who earn more than $207,580. The income limit is recalculated every year to account for the current cost of living.
Some families are filing taxes while they’re waiting for their child’s adoption to be finalized, so they don’t have their child’s social security number yet. You’ll still likely be eligible for the 2018 Adoption Tax Credit. You can apply for a temporary tax identification number for your baby if you’re unable to receive his or her SSN prior to filing your taxes.
The maximum amount available for the 2018 Federal Adoption Tax Credit is $13,840 per child.
If you adopted a child from foster care, or a child that the state would define as special needs or hard-to-place, then the credit may remain flat for you regardless of expenses, allowing you to claim as much as possible.
Some states offer an additional tax credit to local adoptive families. That amount, and eligibility requirements, will vary by state.
You can learn more about how to file for the Adoption Tax Credit on the IRS’ website, and you can find the form there, as well.
If you need help sorting out whether or not you’re eligible for the 2018 Adoption Tax Credit, or if you need help filing for this benefit, talking to a qualified tax professional will always be your best option. (Remember, while we hope you found this post helpful, it is not a substitute for professional tax advice!) Happy filing!
Share to spread the word about the benefits of the Adoption Tax Credit, and to help keep adoption affordable for families.
In the first two parts of this article series, I defined trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and offered examples from my personal life to show that choosing adoption does not mean that a birth mother is guaranteed to suffer trauma. Here’s what I want you to know: The perception of trauma is in the eye of the beholder. Every adoption situation is different. Every prospective birth mother has different relationship dynamics to consider. No adoption situation and the circumstances surrounding it are the same. Therefore, it cannot be concluded that adoption is a guaranteed trauma. There are many different responses to trauma of all degrees. Some people may feel the effects of the trauma for a few days or weeks after the event but be able to recover rather quickly after. For others, the traumatic event may haunt them and develop into PTSD. So, what can those suffering from the aftermath of trauma, especially in adoption, do to help themselves?
For any birth mother dealing with trauma surrounding their adoption, I encourage you to first and foremost speak with a mental health professional. Only a mental health professional will be able to accurately assess your level of emotional, mental, and physical pain. Make sure you find a mental health professional who you feel comfortable with, whom you can trust, and whom you can be honest with. It is only through complete transparency that a good mental health professional will be able to accurately diagnose you. Once you have a diagnosis, treatment can begin, and you can start working toward leading to a life of fulfillment and joy. How to Cope with Birth Mother Trauma Here are a few tips for those suffering the effects of trauma and/or PTSD:
If you are having thoughts of harming yourself or others, get help immediately. You can always call the National Suicide Prevention Helpline: 1-800-273-8255.
If you are a birth mother suffering the effects of trauma or PTSD from choosing adoption, I want to share a word of encouragement with you: Nothing will so much ensure that I continue to walk a path of healing more than the love that I have for my son. One day, my son may need his birth mother, and when that day comes, I will be ready. One day, I may decide to have other children of my own who will need me, and I want to be there for them. Today, my friends and family need me to be healthy and happy so that I can be there for them. Most importantly, I desire a life that I find worth living, and I can only do that when I put in the hard work. The hardest work brings about the best results. So, never give up on yourself or the path of healing that you may be on. I am positive that you will have moments when you want to give up, but just remember: This too shall pass. You will get through it. I can say that because I have been through hell and back and come out the other side. It is always darkest before the dawn, so have faith that it will get better. It may not get easier in every way, but it will always get better. Please, I beg you, do not be afraid to ask for help. Whether it’s one friend, or a whole support group — if you need help, ask for it. You are worth it, even if you don’t feel like you are.
There have been many times on my healing journey in which I have struggled to find a steady place of peace, but I have yet to give up. Now, I have the privilege and pleasure of helping other birth mothers, just by sharing my own personal story. With every struggle, I can write another chapter that can bring hope to someone else. If you ever feel alone, just remember: If I can get through choosing adoption in the face of great obstacles, you can get through whatever it is that you are going through! This article is not intended to serve as medical advice. Please speak with a medical professional if you have concerns regarding your mental health. Read Part One of this article series: “Is Adoption a Trauma?” Read Part Two of this article series: “Adoption and a PTSD Diagnosis.” ~Lindsay Arielle Lindsay is a guest blogger for Considering Adoption. She placed her son for adoption seven years ago and hopes to use her experience to support and educate other expectant mothers considering adoption, as well as adoptive families.
In Part 1 of this article series, I offered a definition of trauma and explained how a traumatic event is a perception of that occurrence. The conclusion that I arrived at was that adoption is not a guaranteed traumatic event. While there may be a grief process after placement, that does not mean that every birth mother will experience her adoption decision as a trauma. Keep in mind there are many other related dynamics and circumstances that surround adoption for every birth mother. For example, I struggled with feeling abandoned by some of my friends and family members. Those losses were traumatic to me, but the adoption itself was not. While I still grieve the loss of my role as a custodial and legal mother to my child, I have experienced intense psychological symptoms from being disowned by a great portion of my family. This brings us to a discussion of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which is what happens to the brain after a traumatic event occurs and it is unable to process that trauma in a healthy and healing way.
Before we get into the definition of PTSD, it’s important to know something about the overseeing organization. The American Psychiatric Association (APA) reviews mental health issues and determines the definitions, descriptions, and diagnostic information for every mental illness. In 2013, the APA put out a new mental illness manual — the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, also known as the DSM-5. In previous editions of this manual, the APA categorized PTSD as an anxiety disorder. As of the last revision in 2013, the updated DSM-5 now characterizes PTSD as its own diagnosis, instead of falling under the umbrella of anxiety disorder. Today, PTSD is defined and characterized by the DSM-5 as a situation in which:
In other words, PTSD is when a person’s brain cannot process trauma, and the person suffers long-term because of it. There are mixed opinions on whether a person can heal from PTSD, or if it may just go into remission. Regardless, a sufferer of PTSD does not wish to continue suffering and will ultimately find ways to cope, whether through healthy or unhealthy means. If you suspect you may be suffering from PTSD, please seek diagnosis and treatment from a medical professional promptly.
Remember, if trauma is an event of perception, and every human has a different way of processing a traumatic event, then it cannot be concluded that adoption is or is not a traumatic event in and of itself. Trauma is experienced differently by every individual, so whether a prospective birth sees adoption as a trauma is up to that woman and her brain. Perhaps she ends up seeing her choice for adoption as traumatic but does not carry it with her in the form of PTSD. Perhaps a birth mother does not see adoption as traumatic at all and chooses adoption with a fulfillment of satisfaction and peace. Therefore, adoption itself is not traumatizing; the level of possible trauma is left in the eye of the beholder. If trauma is experienced from choosing adoption, then, depending on a birth mother’s response, it may or may not develop into PTSD.
I have read many anti-adoption stories from birth mothers who have a biased view on adoption based on their own traumatic experience with it. These stories break my heart because I know the hearts of these birth mothers are broken. Every time I come across one of these articles, I pray that the author finds peace within herself. I pray that she find her very own unique and fulfilling path of healing. I believe that every adoption experience is different for every birth mother and that I cannot judge another’s adoption experience through my own experience. As an advocate for birth mothers and healing for ourselves after placement, I find the discussion of trauma and PTSD as it pertains to choosing adoption as a paramount topic that I have yet to address specifically. So here I am, a woman dealing with PTSD from recent and past events, detailing certain conditions and circumstances surrounding my own adoption decision, tackling this important subject in this three-part series. In recent decades, PTSD has become a more frequently discussed topic in society, and treatment and coping methods are more widespread throughout the country than ever before. In Part 3 of this article series, I will discuss healthy coping mechanisms for trauma and PTSD, offer additional healing resources for birth mothers, and offer a personal statement for other birth mothers suffering from any trauma associated with an adoption decision. This article is not intended to serve as medical advice. Please speak with a medical professional if you have concerns regarding your mental health. ~Lindsay Arielle Lindsay is a guest blogger for Considering Adoption. She placed her son for adoption seven years ago and hopes to use her experience to support and educate other expectant mothers considering adoption, as well as adoptive families.
These are some of the questions I find myself silently asking lately. I haven’t had contact with my son’s parents in months, have been dealing with some serious personal issues, and have been feeling as if the brokenness in my soul will never heal. To cope with some of the pain that I am experiencing, I thought it might be helpful to gain some insight into trauma, PTSD, and how such circumstances can affect birth mothers. As a birth mother of more than eight years, I have suffered from PTSD — but not from choosing adoption alone. There were quite a few personal relationships that ended for me as a result of choosing adoption, and I have found this challenging to heal from. I have also suffered many traumatic situations over my lifetime and am constantly seeking out ways to heal in the hopes that I can become a productive member of society. The truth is: I have come quite far in my healing process and feel extremely blessed when I get to share my hope with others. However, like many women, I am my own worst critic. Sometimes I struggle to acknowledge how far I have come, I am constantly reminded to treat myself with the kindness that My Creator would show me, which means being patient with myself. Eight years after choosing adoption, a lifetime later, however far away it seems, however close it seems, I still have good days and I still have bad days.
There can be a great deal of talk about how adoption and trauma are related — not just for birth mothers but for adoptees, as well. Before I dive into that topic, it’s important that we all understand exactly what trauma is. The Center for Anxiety Disorders defines trauma as “a psychological, emotional response to an event or an experience that is deeply distressing or disturbing.” Trauma can be in response to something minor, like an accident or an illness, or something major, such as rape or torture. A broad trauma definition is more of a guideline; as the Center states, “everyone processes a traumatic event differently because we all face them through the lens of prior experiences in our lives.” Basically, there are endless possibilities of events, different stressors for different people, and multiple perspectives on the same event that can cause trauma. For example, let’s look at a car accident. I witnessed the aftermath of a car accident recently. I saw the two girls in one car get out of their car and heard them screaming. I saw the old man in the other car sitting in his car, too shocked to get out. It was a bit more than a fender bender, but nobody was hurt. However, there were more people involved in that accident than just those in their vehicles. There were those who witnessed the accident, those who came upon the scene after hearing the crash like myself, onlookers in traffic trying to get a peek of what had happened, the first responders who came to help, and the family and friends who came on scene to support those who were involved. Is a fender bender or a car accident a traumatic event? The answer: It might be.
Trauma is a perceived reaction to an event. I was not traumatized at all by the fender bender I came upon. I was able to get the girls and the old man who were involved in the crash out of the street and onto the side of the road. I was able to sit with the girls while they struggled to catch their breath and to reach a conscious state of reality while fighting off the shock. I was upset, but I have found that remembering that situation has made me grateful that I was able to offer a helping hand. However, the two young girls had just experienced their first car accident, no matter how small it may have seemed to me. One of the girls was gasping for her breath in a state of panic and shock, while the other girl was repeatedly thanking me for staying by her side. This “fender bender” was clearly a traumatic event for those girls, the old man, perhaps the witness and the onlookers, and maybe even the first responders. However, many of us were not in shock, did not find the accident traumatizing, and only just wanted to help how we could.
So, what makes something traumatic to one person, but not to another? Perhaps one day science will explain how the human brain perceives one event and not another as traumatic, but this isn’t yet possible today. When an event is perceived as traumatic by a person, this means that it has impacted the person’s brain in a way that shall be imprinted for some period. It may be a few days that these girls decide they will stay away from a vehicle but then find the courage to face the fear that they will wreck again within a few days. Or, perhaps these girls decide that they will never be able to safely drive a vehicle again.
As a birth mother, I can tell you that there were many occurrences throughout my adoption process that I found traumatic. However, most of these occurrences involved members of my family and loved ones provoking feelings of loss. I had much to grieve after my adoption decision. Not only was I trying to process and grieve the loss of my role as a mother and the physical removal of my son, but I had many friends and family members who turned their backs on me. In the moments when those I loved told me they would no longer support me, I felt as if a knife had been stabbed into my heart and then twisted to bring the point home even further. For me, it was not the adoption itself that caused trauma but the events surrounding my adoption decision.
If you are a woman considering adoption who is concerned about feeling traumatized because of choosing adoption, I encourage you to reach out to those who will support you in an adoption decision. Many adoption agencies offer pregnancy counseling and can give you an idea of what the adoption process looks like. This way, you can prepare yourself before making the decision. Your pregnancy counselor, and even your assigned adoption professional, can also help you navigate conversations with difficult friends and family members. Remember, just because an occurrence may seem traumatic at the time does not mean that the memory will haunt your forever. There are different levels of trauma in each situation for every individual. In the next article in this series, I will discuss PTSD. This discussion will include what PTSD is, how it is diagnosed, and how to cope with symptoms while it is active. Of course, just as in the car accident that I witnessed the aftermath of, not every traumatic situation brings about a traumatic response in the individual. Every person is different and will have different reactions that may or may not trigger long-lasting trauma. Therefore, now knowing the definition of trauma and the reality that trauma is a perception of an event, it cannot be concluded that choosing adoption means that a birth mother will be traumatized or that PTSD is inevitable. Every woman is different. I highly recommend that every woman considering adoption consult with a pregnancy counselor through her adoption agency to prepare for the adoption process and to help decide if adoption is the right decision for her. This article is not intended to serve as medical advice. Please speak with a medical professional if you have concerns regarding your mental health. ~Lindsay Arielle Lindsay is a guest blogger for Considering Adoption. She placed her son for adoption seven years ago and hopes to use her experience to support and educate other expectant mothers considering adoption, as well as adoptive families.
What do you think of when the term “birth mother” comes to mind? Do you think positive thoughts about a woman who sacrificed herself for her baby? Or do you think of the young girl who wasn’t mature enough to parent?
There are so many stereotypes surrounding what makes a woman a true birth mother — but there is no exact image of a birth mother, because every mother is different. Likewise, there are a variety of circumstances in which a woman facing an unplanned pregnancy might find herself before making a decision to put her baby up for adoption.
It is never our place to judge such decisions or circumstances, as we never know how hard a mother’s path really is. Birth mothers come in all demographics, with different levels of support, different types of post-placement agreements, and more.
Here are just five of the different types of birth mothers that I have met since I have begun my own walk as a birth mother:
I happened to have been a single mother when I found out I was pregnant. It was a very scary time for me. I was dating someone I barely knew who was the father of this child that I was going to be responsible for. I choose adoption because it was the best choice for myself and my baby.
This is just one example of a situation a woman facing an unplanned pregnancy may find herself in. There are so many myths that need to be debunked surrounding women who face unplanned pregnancies when they are single. The only way to dispel such myths is to educate your sphere of influence, starting with yourself.
Yes, it is possible for married woman who are pregnant to choose adoption. Sometimes birth fathers are supportive, while in other cases they are not. I have met women who were married at the time of choosing adoption, and they have wonderful open adoption with their children and their spouse.
Here we have society’s favorite stereotype of birth mothers: the girl who got pregnant too young who “should have known better.” While this may at times be the case, I cannot say that I agree this is always a teenage birth mother’s situation. Many young women I have met who faced unplanned pregnancies were at least making an effort to avoid pregnancy, and a few of them are even with their partners a decade later.
While adoption is a decision that should always belong to a prospective birth mother, that is not always the case with younger birth mothers. If you are a minor, make sure you are familiar with your state’s consent laws when it comes to choosing adoption for your baby.
I hate to say that this has been the case many times when it comes to women choosing adoption. I met a young woman who shared her story with me of how her parents ripped her baby from her when she was 14-years-old. I couldn’t imagine being in her shoes or her parents’ shoes for one second.
It’s important to know that not every adoption is “voluntary.” These situations are heartbreaking, but the truth is — they happen.
After choosing adoption, many women these days opt for an open adoption with their baby. In an open adoption, a birth mother has direct contact with her children after placement while he or she is growing up. It’s an amazing experience for any woman to have.
There are so many types of birth mothers, so what should we think of when we think of “birth mother”? Whatever you do, don’t make any assumptions about how a birth mother feels about her adoption. Let her be the one to tell you how she feels and allow her to express those feelings freely and without judgement.
When you speak of birth mothers in general to others, do not make assumptions and fall back on societal stereotypes. No matter what our circumstances are, birth mothers have one thing in common that we can all claim to be true: we love the child we choose adoption for.
~Lindsay Arielle
Lindsay is a guest blogger for Considering Adoption. She placed her son for adoption seven years ago and hopes to use her experience to support and educate other expectant mothers considering adoption, as well as adoptive families.
