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Can You Put a Baby up for Adoption After You Take It Home? [6 Simple Steps]

Considering adoption is a decision that takes careful thought, and it can be difficult to know if it is right for you. Fortunately, adoption is always an option.

Anyone experiencing an unplanned pregnancy generally has three options at their disposal:

  • Parenting
  • Abortion
  • Adoption

It is completely normal to be confused about which of these three paths best suits your personal needs. But, only you know what is right for you, and that can take some time. Thankfully, this article lays out some basic information for you. It is never too late to choose adoption, whether you have just discovered your pregnancy or if you’re thinking about giving a baby up for adoption after taking it home.

Can you put a baby up for adoption after you take it home?

It can feel like there is a deadline for placing your baby for adoption. But, the truth is that you can choose adoption at any time, even if your baby has been home with you for days, weeks or months.

You may be wondering, “Can I give my baby up for adoption after taking it home?” The answer to that is always “yes.” There isn’t a maximum age to place your child for adoption.  Whether you were too overwhelmed after your delivery or your situation has changed, adoption is always an option, even if you’ve returned home with your baby from the hospital.

Also, when you choose adoption, you are not “giving up.” You are giving your child a life full of love and opportunity. This is not an easy decision, but placing a baby up for adoption is heroic, brave and loving. You are putting your child’s needs before your own, and it’s an incredibly selfless choice. Though “giving up” a baby is a common phrase, it misses the point.

How to Place a Baby for Adoption After You Leave the Hospital

You have a new baby at home and a difficult choice confronting you, so you may feel stressed about which steps to take. That’s where we come in. We have outlined six simple steps that can get you started on placing your child for adoption after you’ve taken them home.

Step 1: Select Your Adoption Agency [For Guidance and Support]

One of the most important steps of any adoption plan is choosing the adoption agency that you want to work with. When you’re researching, make sure to find a reputable agency that provides all the services you need to complete your adoption from start to finish. These include:

  • 24/7 counseling and support
  • The ability to match you with the right adoptive family
  • Helping you cover adoption- and pregnancy-related costs with financial assistance programs
  • Connecting you with legal representation
  • And more

Many adoption agencies have helped prospective birth mothers complete adoptions after bringing their babies home from the hospital. These professionals can help you with “giving a baby up” for adoption after taking it home, too. Here are a few adoption agencies that can help you out:

Step 2: Fill out Your Medical History Forms [And Other Necessary Paperwork]

After you’ve selected an adoption agency to work with, you will be assigned your own individual adoption professional who will guide you throughout your adoption journey. This includes helping you fill out the required paperwork and decide what family you want for your child.

Step 3: Choose Your Baby’s Adoptive Parents [You Can Choose the Right Family]

No matter how quickly you need to form your adoption plan, you can still choose the right adoptive family for your baby when you work with the right agency.

Your adoption professional will help you figure out what you want in an adoptive family. Do you imagine your child growing up with siblings or family pets? What religious values do you hold dearly? Do you picture them growing up in an urban, suburban or rural environment?

Once your adoption professional understands your needs and preferences, they will show you adoption profiles of families that match your hopes and dreams for your child. With larger, national agencies, you will have more families to look at, which gives you a better chance of finding the best one for your baby.

Step 4: Meet Your Child’s Adoptive Parents [On Your Own Terms]

You may think this is one of the longer steps of the process, but it is actually quite brief. Adoption professionals are excellent at coordinating adoptions after delivery. The family is only a phone call away, and many families are eager to travel to come to visit you! How long this takes depends on geographical location, but some adoptive families will even talk to you over the phone while they’re driving or waiting in the airport.

Step 5: Choose What Type of Relationship you Want to Have with the Adoptive Parents [You Have Full Control]

When you’re “giving a baby up” for adoption after taking it home, there are three types of relationships between birth and adoptive parents: open adoption, semi-open adoption and closed adoption. Open adoption is when the two parties exchange identifying information and maintain contact through:

  • Phone calls
  • Emails
  • Texts
  • In-person visits
  • And more

With a semi-open adoption, your adoption professional will mediate contact and share any letter or photo updates with you. In a closed adoption, there is no contact at all. Closed adoptions have become increasingly uncommon, and most prospective birth mothers have shifted toward pursuing open adoption because of experts’ research that open adoption benefits the most people, especially the adoptee.

But, what type of relationship you want to have with your child’s adoptive parents is completely up to you. You will always have full control of your adoption journey when “giving a baby up” for adoption after taking it home.

Step 6: Finalize the Adoption

After you have determined what kind of relationship you want to have with your child’s adoptive family, your adoption professional will help you complete the adoption. Depending on how old your child is, you may need to complete a transition plan. If your child is old enough to be aware of the placement, a transition plan can help them understand what is happening and feel safe. Your adoption specialist will help you create that this plan so that everybody — yourself, your baby and the adoptive family — feels safe and loved.

Once your baby is in the loving arms of the adoptive parents, an adoption attorney will help you with the finalization paperwork, which gives full parental rights and responsibilities to the adoptive parents.

Additionally, the adoptive family will appear in a local court to receive the final decree of adoption from the judge. This is a brief hearing that takes roughly 30 minutes to an hour. This step is not required for you, but you can always show your support by making an appearance at the finalization hearing if you’d like.

If you are interested in speaking with an adoption professional, then please don’t hesitate to contact us today! We would love to help you whenever you may need us.