Putting your baby up for adoption in Kentucky could be the best option for you if you are experiencing an unplanned pregnancy — you don’t have to choose parenting or abortion if those options don’t work for you.

There are many benefits of adoption for you, your child and your child’s adoptive parents when you choose placing your baby for adoption. But, how do you “give your baby up” for adoption in Kentucky?

Here are the seven basic steps to placing your baby for adoption in Kentucky:

Step 1: Know that adoption is right for you.

Step 2: Get all the adoption information that you need.

Step 3: Contact an adoption agency to get adoption counseling and support.

Step 4: Get help from your adoption specialist to create your adoption plan and your hospital plan.

Step 5: Choose your baby’s perfect parents with the help of adoption matching services.

Step 6: Give birth and sign adoption paperwork for consent.

Step 7: Continue your adoption communication plan after adoption.

Even if your baby has recently been born and you’ve already taken them home, you can still choose putting baby up for adoption in Kentucky. You will get the adoption support and counseling that you need to create your adoption plan and you get help choosing your baby’s hopeful adoptive parents. When you work with an adoption agency that you trust, you can have the best possible adoption experience.

Continue reading to get the information that you need on how to give a baby up for adoption in Kentucky. You can contact an adoption professional online at any time.

How to “Give a Baby Up” for Adoption in Kentucky [7 Steps]

It is normal to be confused about what to do next when you’re experiencing an unplanned pregnancy and considering putting baby up for adoption in Kentucky. This guide on how to “give a baby up” for adoption can answer many of your questions about what to expect during the adoption process.

You can speak with an adoption professional to get started or have your adoption questions answered when you contact us online.

Here are the seven basic steps that most prospective birth parents follow when placing baby for adoption in Kentucky.

Step 1. Know That Adoption is Right for You [Here’s How]

“How do I know if ‘giving up’ my baby is right for me?”                  

Only you can determine if adoption is right for your situation. But, you can consider birth mothers who give up their babies and their reasons for choosing adoption:

• Not ready to be a mother
• Unable to provide the resources that a child needs
• Financial instability
• Not emotionally prepared to raise a child
• Don’t want to be a single mother
• Unstable housing and/or living situation
• Help hopeful parents start or grow their family

These are just a few reasons that could help you decide if putting baby up for adoption in Kentucky is right for you. It’s OK if you already know that you’re not ready to be a parent. The best way for you to provide for your child could be by placing your baby for adoption with a hopeful, waiting family.

Along with these reasons, women choose adoption as an alternative to terminating the pregnancy through abortion. This can be a sensitive topic that is against your values and moral beliefs, so placing your baby for adoption can be the best way for you to create a positive out of your unplanned pregnancy — helping to create a loving family.

There are also the benefits of adoption to consider, which affect you, your child and your child’s adoptive parents for a lifetime.

• You can have the peace of mind that your child is safe and loved as they grow up.
• The adoptive parents that you choose for your child get the joy of starting or growing their family with the addition of a child.
• By placing your baby for adoption, they get all the opportunities that you want them to have with all the love and resources they deserve.

Remember, you can maintain contact with your child and their adoptive parents after putting your baby up for adoption — you can choose to have an open adoption. This can put your mind at ease, knowing that you can get help creating a communication plan even after adoption placement.

Step 2. Get All the Adoption Information That You Need To Know

Adoption can be a complex process depending on your situation, and it’s normal for prospective birth parents, like you, to have questions about how to “give a baby up” for adoption in Kentucky. An adoption agency can be your best source for adoption education and information.

You deserve to get all the adoption information that you need to make a confident and informed decision about adoption. To learn more about “giving your baby up” for adoption in Kentucky, here are some trustworthy sources:

• ConsideringAdoption.com
• AdoptionAgencies.com
• Adoption-For-My-Baby.com

Step 3. Contact an Adoption Agency to Get Adoption Counseling and Support

Once you have determined that adoption could be right for you and you have gathered adoption information, then you can find an adoption agency that fits your needs.

Not all adoption agencies are the same, but there are a few services that you will need to make putting your baby up for adoption as stress-free as possible.

• 24/7 communication available for you to have your adoption questions and concerns addressed at any time
• Adoption counseling for you before, during and after giving your baby up for adoption
• Matching services to help you find how to put a baby up for adoption with the perfect family
• Adoption financial assistance to get the financial help that you need when placing your baby for adoption
• Access to all the trusted adoption professionals that you need from pre-placement to post-placement

A licensed adoption agency helps you have a safe, legal and ethical adoption. You are not required to work with an adoption agency when placing your baby for adoption in Kentucky, but it is recommended because of the comprehensive adoption support that you can receive.

If you’d like to start looking at potential adoption agencies now, here are a few you could consider:

• American Adoptions
• Adoption Assistance, Inc.
• All Blessings International
• Adoption Bridges
• Love Basket Adoption
• Heart to Home Adoption Agency

Step 4. Get Help Creating Your Adoption Plan and Your Hospital Plan

Your adoption plan includes everything that you want for yourself and your baby when you’re considering “giving your baby up” for adoption. This includes:

• What type of parents you want them to have
• Where you want them to live
• The type of education you want them to have
• And more

It’s the same for your hospital plan— to have the birth experience that you want. You also get to choose how involved you want your child’s prospective adoptive parents to be as you learn how to go about giving your baby up for adoption.

You can create your adoption plan on your own, but you can benefit from working with your adoption support group and your adoption specialist. Those supportive people can give insight into your situation and their adoption experience can help you build a plan that is right for you.

Step 5. Choose Your Baby’s Perfect Adoptive Parents

A part of placing your baby for adoption in Kentucky is choosing your baby’s adoptive family. One of the services that your adoption agency or adoption professional should offer is matching services to help you find adoption opportunities.

• There are hundreds of families waiting to adopt a child.
• There are local adoption agencies, meaning they only work with families in one state.
• National adoption agencies, on the other hand, work with families all over the U.S., giving you more options and a better chance of finding the right family for your baby.

It is important to feel comfortable and confident in the parents that you choose when “giving a baby up” for adoption. This choice is yours to give you peace of mind for your child’s future. One way that you can feel at peace about your decision is by choosing to have an open adoption.

Open adoption gives you the opportunity to communicate with the adoptive parents that you choose. Most adoptions today are open adoptions because communication benefits birth parents, adoptive parents and your child, the adoptee. Adoption communication when placing baby for adoption in Kentucky helps you build trust with your child’s adoptive parents and it helps your child develop a healthy sense of self.

Step 6. Give Birth and Sign Your Adoption Paperwork

When it’s time for you to give birth and you’re giving your baby up for adoption, this is where your hospital plan will come in handy.

You get to decide:

• Where you want to give birth
• If you want your child’s adoptive parents in the delivery room with you
• How much time you want to spend with your baby
• And everything in between.

According to Kentucky adoption laws, you can sign the adoption paperwork for consent at any time after your baby is born.

Step 7. Continue Your Adoption Communication Plan

Open adoption allows you to choose the frequency of communication that you want with your child and their adoptive family. Your communication plan can be anything from receiving pictures of your child each week to having in-person visits twice a year after giving your baby up for adoption.

Many adoptive parents want their child’s birth parents to be in their lives and they often develop lifelong friendships. But, if you’re not comfortable with a close relationship, you can choose a semi-open adoption that allows you to receive updates about your child that are facilitated through your adoption agency.

“Giving your baby up” for adoption in Kentucky will be a difficult decision, but you can get help from an adoption professional today.

In the meantime, let’s review the importance of positive adoption language when placing your baby for adoption.

Placing Your Baby for Adoption in Kentucky is Not “Giving Up” Your Baby

Adoption is a brave and selfless act, which is why it’s important to use positive adoption language that supports the true meaning of adoption.

Hundreds of waiting adoptive parents dream of bringing a child into their home to start or grow their family. “Giving up” your baby implies that you don’t care, but that’s not true — placing your baby for adoption is the best way to say that you’re giving your baby opportunities and a loving family.

Adoption is not an easy decision, which is why placing your baby for adoption in Kentucky is a brave act. You love your child so much that you get help and support to make a plan for your child to have their best possible future with parents that are ready to raise a child. Adoption is always worth it, but only you can make the decision that adoption is right for you and your baby.

Stephen and Devlin, birth parents who chose adoption for their son, talk about their reasons for being brave enough to choose adoption and the emotions that go with it.

“I want [our son] to see that this decision impacted everybody in a really positive way, it was all about him,” Devlin said. “This is the first major decision that I’ve made solely based on logic and love for another person instead of what’s best for me.”

They felt the loss and grief that comes with placing baby for adoption, but they remained selfless and steadfast in their decision because it was best for their son.

“I didn’t feel any loss during the process until we put him in [his adoptive mother’s] arms and left the hospital, and I cried the whole way home,” Devlin said. “I wanted to turn around and take him and run, but I knew that was about me.”

Stephen said, “The loss is almost unbearable. I don’t really feel loss; I feel more of a guilt that I wasn’t better…in a better place for him. This was single-handedly the hardest decision we’ve ever had to do for ourselves, for him.”

After their brave and selfless act of putting baby up for adoption, Stephen and Devlin are ultimately proud and happy with their decision.

“His parents are a gift,” Devlin said. “We want [our son] to know that this was the most difficult thing we’ve ever had to do, but would do it again in a heartbeat for him.”

You can contact us online today to be connected with an adoption professional when you’re ready for putting baby up for adoption.