Are you a couple who has considered adoption or may be ready to begin your adoption journey? If you are interested in starting the adoption process in Louisiana, let the St. Elizabeth Foundation help answer any questions you have before you begin. There are many factors to consider when adopting a newborn, but these three questions are fantastic starting points. Your answers can help establish your purpose for adoption and better prepare you before beginning the process.
1. Why Do We Want to Adopt?
This question is the foundation of your decision. What reasons do you have for bringing a new child into your home? You may want to provide a child a healthier, more stable home that they wouldn’t have access to otherwise. In addition to wanting children of your own, you may want to also change the life of the birth mother or parents by extending care and compassion to them. Moreover, if your family cannot have biological children, you may still feel the call to be a parent. However, this question urges you to reflect on your “why.” Your answer will help drive you through the ups and downs of the adoption process and keep you focused on your end goal: to expand your family and welcome a new child into your life.
2. Is Anything Holding Us Back From Adoption?
We want you to be excited about your decision to adopt! You are taking the step in growing your family and providing a home to a new child. But, this also means that you should be fully prepared to welcome the child, both physically and emotionally. At St. Elizabeth’s we’ll work through your qualifications, home study, and education with you. Beginning with a background check, medical history, and emotional counseling, we can see if you’re prepared for adoption. Next, we visit your home for an in-depth review of the environment the child will be entering. And finally, we have parents follow our educational program with other adopting families to learn more about the journey ahead of you.
This process is meant to highlight any pain points in your process. For example, do you have medical conditions that could affect your parenting? Are you able to financially support a new member of the family? Is your home in the right condition to house a new baby? If you have lost a child or struggled with infertility, have you fully grieved the process so that you can move forward with your new child? St. Elizabeth Foundation knows that this is a vulnerable step of the process. This is where your answer to our last question comes into play. But remember what interested you in adoption in Louisiana in the first place, and focus on why you have decided to pursue adoption. And don’t forget that this step helps you cultivate the best environment for successful adoption!
3. Are We Prepared to Maintain Contact With the Birth Mother?
At the St. Elizabeth Foundation, we respect our birth mothers for the selfless decision to place their babies for adoption. We offer guidance and care throughout the birth and adoption, but we give her full control in the decision-making process. She has the option to choose an open, semi-open, or closed adoption. At our adoption agency, we specialize in semi-open adoptions. This means that after the baby is born and the adoption is finalized, we mediate communication between the birth mother and your family through cards, phone calls, personal visits, and more. No matter which type of adoption the birth mother decides on, it is important that you are prepared to respect her choice.
If You are Interested in Adoption in Louisiana, Get Started With St. Elizabeth’s
Once you have cemented your answers to these questions, it is time to begin your application process. If you are interested in learning more about the adoption process or our Louisiana agency, we are here to help! Reach out to us at 225-769-8888, or send us a message with your questions. We look forward to helping you find answers and beginning the adoption process.