Adoption: a Loving and Heroic Option 

The US Adoption Network states: “There are no national statistics on how many people are waiting to adopt, but experts
estimate it is somewhere between one and two million couples…. Only 4% of women with unwanted pregnancies place their children through adoption.” When you think about the number of couples who desperately want a child versus the number of babies killed in abortion, your heart breaks. There are so many loving families who would welcome a child, as a child is always a precious and amazing gift.

Adoption is a loving, heroic option to a surprise pregnancy. Adoption agencies want to make it clear that the process will cost the birth mother no money.

Adoption today is not like it was 30 – 40 years ago, where the baby is whisked away from the delivery room, and the mother wonders for
years—or maybe forever—if that child is happy or healthy. She no longer has to speculate about his family and what kind of people are raising him.

Today, birth mothers can choose if they want an open or a closed adoption.

•  In a closed adoption, the birth mother will have no contact with the adoptive family, nor will she receive any information about the child. Depending on the state, the records may be sealed until the child becomes an adult.

•  In an open adoption, however, the birth mother can choose how much contact she wants. She can ask for letters and pictures from the family once a year. She can ask for periodic updates via text. She can connect with the family on social media and watch the child grow. Or she can even have some contact with the child and stay in touch via phone or video chat. 

• Once a birth mother has decided to give her baby up in adoption through an agency, she begins by creating an adoption plan. She discusses with the staff what kind of financial help she needs.
• Then the staff will help her choose the kind of parents she wants for her baby. Agencies have compiled lists, so the birth mother can look through profiles of families to ensure that she picks the “perfect” one—one that matches her dreams for her child.
•  And finally, she can choose where and how she’ll have the baby.
• After the birth mother chooses a family, if she so desires, she can meet with them, spend time with them, and even have the present at the baby’s birth. The birth mother is the one in control.

When a woman gives her baby for adoption, she is choosing life
over death. She is putting the baby's well-being over hers. And she is giving
not only the baby, but another family, an immense gift.

Source: Adoption vs Abortion: An Angle You May Not Have Considered (hli.org)

When a woman encounters a surprise pregnancy, she may think that an abortion is “easier” than carrying a baby and giving him to a family.
And while it may seem like a “quick fix,” the emotional damage of aborting a baby is something many women never get past. 

While abortion is often a solution of desperation, adoption is the loving and heroic option.