This guest post is by Ashlee Amraen, a birthmother.
I was 21 when I got pregnant with twins. It was completely unexpected.
My boyfriend and I were excited but we soon realized that adoption was best for them.
We had a very rocky relationship and we both came to the conclusion that we were not ready and either was our relationship. It wouldn’t have been fair to our twins to bring them into a world where mommy and daddy were fighting all the time. Continue reading
When it comes to writing an adoptive parent profile, many hopeful adoptive couples make the classic mistake of viewing it strictly as a marketing tool.
No argument there. Your adoptive parent profile is a marketing tool.
Next to word of mouth, it’s probably the most important marketing tool you have in your adoption profile networking toolkit.
And yet it is so much more than just a marketing tool, and the sooner you begin to understand that the sooner and easier you’ll find a match.
The fact is, when you come right down to it, your adoptive parent profile is a story — the story of you.
Not your entire story, mind you. Just a portion of it, a very specialised portion — designed to help you stand out from the crowd and make a connection with a prospective birthmother.
And just like every story, it has three basics elements: a beginning, middle, and end. Continue reading
This guest post is by Ashley Mitchell, a birthmother and owner of Big Tough Girl.™
I am about to reach a big milestone in my adoption journey.
I placed a baby boy almost 8 years ago.
Eight years. The very thought is almost unfathomable.
I can hardly believe that 8 years ago I was making hospital arrangements, calling the soon-to-be parents and preparing to welcome this baby into this world.
I was 26 years old. I was scared to death.
I remember a few conversations about “open adoption” and what that meant. Conversations with my case-worker, other members of the agency and the adoptive couple that I had chosen.
I was very uneducated about the “adoption world”.
It was all a foreign language to me so in ways I am sure I just nodded my head, not really hearing or understanding. There was so much to process, so much that was about to happen. Continue reading
This guest post is by Alysia Foote, a birthmother.
When you think of the “typical” birthmother, what do you see in your mind?
People tend to be reactionary when they first hear a birthmother story.
It hurts. It stings, but I have learned there is an action for every reaction. It is my opportunity to educate.
All birthmothers place for the same reason when it comes down to it. For the love of our children.
The ultimate, sacrificial love that no one can deny us of having.
We are unique and because of that we have had to fight through so many obstacles in being accepted in to the world of adoption. Continue reading
This guest post is by Barbara Freedgood, an adoptive mother and psychotherapist.
As I sit watching the snowflakes falling outside my kitchen window, my mind wanders back to the time when my husband and I were adopting. So here come my thoughts.
When hopeful adoptive parents talk about adoption, they often talk about it as if it were one thing. That one thing is finding a child to love and raise as family, but that is actually just one outcome of adoption.
Adoption begins with a dream and turns into a lifelong series of challenges that evolve as the child and family grow. Adoption is a process.
If you thought infertility took grit, try adopting! For many of us, before we ever consider adopting, we have already been trying to have a child for some time. (I promise not to tell you to mourn here. I’m quite sure someone else has done that!)
So we are tired, but we are also really good at trying. It’s a tough process, adoption. Continue reading
This guest post is by Laura Gladden, a birthmother and blogger.
Every girl fantasizes about what her future will be like. What kind of man she will marry, what kind of house she will live in, how many children she will have, and all those other things.
I am no exception to this.
Growing up, not just when I was a small child, but also when I was a teenager, I had these goals. I grew up a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, so I had some even more specific goals.
Like, finding a man that was worthy to take me to the Temple, a man who held the priesthood and could bless our home with it. I wanted a man who was successful, who could provide a nice home for our family and me. Continue reading
