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Expectant Mother
The Impact of Adoption on Birth
Parents
Overview of the Impact of Adoption on Birth Parents
What Birth Parents Experience
How
Birth Parents Cope
This article is addressed to you, the birth parent. Although the
adoption community sometimes overlooks your contribution and
sacrifice, this article addresses adoption from your point of view.
Placing a child for adoption is not an easy thing to do, not at the
time of placement nor years later. How do you get through the
experience, and how does it affect you later in life?
This article cannot address every aspect of your experience—the
topic is just too broad. It focuses on the most common experiences
of parents who have voluntarily placed their infants and is divided
into four parts.
Part 1 is a brief overview of the impact that adoption may have
had on you. It focuses on three topics: coping with grief, romantic
relationships, and parenting issues.
Part 2 discusses your experiences during three time periods: (1)
the birth and placement of the child, (2) the years after placement
but before the child becomes a legal adult, and (3) the time after
the child becomes an adult. Specific coping issues for each period
are addressed.
Part 3 looks at ways that you can cope with your feelings and
gives specific options for facing your grief.
Part 4 contains a list of resources where you can go for help,
including the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse (NAIC).
One point to remember is that you are not alone. Many others have
felt the same feelings and had the same experiences as you. A number
of birth parents have come forward and are willing to offer help, as
are others in the adoption field.
Resource: National Adoption Information
Clearinghouse
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