You’re facing an unplanned pregnancy and either – don’t have the means to take care of him or her or can’t imagine having a child in your life right now. That’s okay! You are not alone.

Adoption Choices of Nevada will offer you support and encouragement every step of the way. We understand that you are in a stressful situation and deciding whether or not adoption is the right choice for you isn’t an easy one.

While researching adoption, you might have come across the phrase, “adoption plan.” Now, you’re questioning what it means. Why is the adoption plan important, and is it absolutely necessary when placing your baby for adoption? Let’s find out!

What is the Adoption Plan?

Put simply, the adoption plan covers your whole adoption process. The type of adoption you are looking for when it comes to level of openness, the process through which you’ll select an adoptive family for your baby and the details surrounding your hospital experience. It is something that you have 100% control over. If this seems overwhelming, don’t worry. We’ve broken down the adoption plan for you.

Step One: Research Adoption Agencies

We know that researching adoption agencies is probably the last thing you want to do, but it is essential to your adoption journey. Your goal in this step is to find an adoption agency full of people who genuinely want to help you. Depending on where you live, the options for agencies may be numerous or few. You may find organizations who care more about making a profit than you and your baby’s well-being. Each agency operates a little differently, so it’s important to learn all you can and see which one fits best.

The good news is that you found us! We are an agency that is supportive and respected. We even have two agencies to help you with your unplanned pregnancy – our amazing Reno team and our equally amazing Las Vegas team. All our staff are trained to help you through everything you will need. We promise to never judge you or force you to sign any paperwork. Rather, we will show you the respect you deserve and treat you like family. We vow to provide the most positive and empowering adoption journey possible.

Step Two: Choose the Type of Adoption

Once you’ve chosen an adoption agency, you can begin fleshing out the details of your adoption plan. To start off, ask yourself what type of adoption you’re looking for. There are three different types.

• Open adoption: You will be part of your child’s life and adoptive family. Well, rather you have the option to be a part of it through pictures, visits, phone calls, texts, emails and any other method of communication you can think of. There is no need to go through the agency for communication. But, if you pick this adoption plan, make sure to set boundaries of communication that both you and the adoptive parents feel comfortable with.
• Semi-open adoption: This one has less communication. Typically, all communication is through the agency. If you don’t want to lose all contact with your child but don’t necessarily want to be contacted by them directly, this is the option for you.
• Closed adoption: There is no communication after you finalize the adoption and sign away all parental rights.

Adoption Choices of Nevada encourages open adoption as we believe this type of adoption keeps everyone’s best interests at heart; however, we understand that you may feel differently concerning this. You will have your own reasons for which level of openness in adoption you choose, and that is your right as a birth mother. The choice is completely up to you, and we promise to support you no matter what.

Step Three: Select the Adoptive Family

It’s time to pick a family! You and your caseworker can now discuss the type of family you want for your baby. You’ll get to talk about background, culture, home life, etc. Think hard about anything and everything you want for your child. Do you want single, same-sex or heterosexual adoptive parents? Do you want your baby to have siblings right away, or would you prefer him or her to be an only child? Do you want the family to have pets? What about family and religious values? Ask yourself what are the most important traits and characteristics of a potential adoptive family are, and your caseworker will be sure to help you determine this portion of the adoption plan. Then you can select adoptive family profiles that best align with what you’re looking for.

If you’d like to view our agency’s potential adoptive families, you can visit our page here. Check out their profiles, pictures and videos!

Step Four: Prepare Questions to Ask

Your adoption plan is really coming together! You have your agency, type of adoption and potential adoptive family picked out. Now, depending on the level of openness you chose, it’s time to meet the prospective adoptive parents. Your caseworker can help you prepare a list of questions to ask before your first meeting. Of course, you are more than welcome to add to it and do what feels right.

Know what you want before going into the interview. It will help make sure things run smoothly and, in the end, you will be happy with your choice.

Why is the Adoption Plan Important? 

Your adoption plan is your way of keeping everything organized. You get to make the plan that details everything you want to happen. It keeps you and your agency on the same page as well. Having a plan allows you to go step by step without feeling overwhelmed. You can reference it as time goes on. Without an adoption plan, it’s easy to get confused or overwhelmed. Your unexpected pregnancy may feel out of control, but this plan is 100% your plan.

The Adoption Plan 

Placing your baby up for adoption is a hard decision. There are many aspects involved that can be overwhelming if you don’t know where to start. You may need to gather information and, perhaps, talk to more than one adoption agency before choosing one that fits you best. But we hope that this resource makes putting together your adoption plan a little less stressful.

Remember that you are not alone. We are always here for you. Our staff want what’s best for you and your little one, and we will do everything in our power to make sure your adoption journey runs as smoothly as possible.

Adoption Choices of Nevada

Adoption Choices, Inc. is a private, non-profit adoption agency licensed by the state and leader in the adoption community. We have been assisting birth parents, children, and adoptive parents since 2002. Our staff has a genuine commitment to providing an empathetic, empowering, and progressive experience to all involved in the adoption process.  If you are currently in the process of adopting a baby and have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact Adoption Choices of Nevada. You may visit the website here or contact us by 775-825-4673 (Reno Office) or 702-474-4673 (Las Vegas Office). Our hours are Monday through Friday, 9am-5pm PST.

Support Adoption Choices

Adoption Choices, Inc. is partnering with Crowdrise, a fundraising website for nonprofits, to help our adoptive parents and birth parents with much needed financial assistance. We understand that expenses keep clients from fulfilling their dreams. Both with birth parents making a plan for adoption, and with adoptive parents growing their family. It is our mission to provide financial assistance through grants and scholarships, awarded annually in November, in honor of National Adoption Month. Funds assist adoptive parents with matching and placements, adoption finalization and helping birth mothers improve their lives through higher education — and much more.

However, we can’t do it alone. Please read up on our programs and donate money where you are able. Your donation will make a huge impact.

About the Author

Tia Kitchens is a college graduate with a B.S in Psychology from Capella University who has always had a passion for three things: animals, writing, and mac ‘n cheese. Two of these three are things she has based her work around. Animals are a big impact on her life due to her love for helping others through difficult situations. Through her studies, she has found the human-animal bond is strong enough to help others. This, paired with her writing, helps her record her findings and teach others through her words.

She is excited to join Adoption Choices as an Editorial Intern because she’s wanted to adopt since she was little, and is excited to learn about the industry and the adoption journey.

Her goal is to make a change in the world with her words and end up on someone’s inspiration Pinterest board! Being a key quote on someone’s Pinterest board it shows her words have a huge impact on people. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but if that picture is just words it surely means more that way! To learn more about her, follow her on Twitter and Instagram!

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Sources:

“How Do I Start an Adoption Plan?” Adoption.org, adoption.org/start-adoption-plan.

“Making an Adoption Plan: The Steps You Need to Know: Non-Profit Adoption Assistance.” AdoptionLife, 8 May 2019, adoptionlife.org/making-an-adoption-plan/.