More
Search Results
Dealing With Your Child's Birthday
A placed child’s birthday is one of the hardest days for birthmothers. For me personally, it is a bittersweet day mixed with joy and sadness. I’m joyous for the life I brought into this world, but I’m sad for the loss of my motherhood to my sweet son. As my son’s birthday gets close, I find myself t...
Calling Someone Else Mom
When I was pregnant and making an adoption plan, I didn’t give much thought to how I would feel hearing my son call someone else Mom. This is not often discussed with adoption professionals prior to placing a child for adoption. Some birthmoms (myself included) are blindsided with emotions when it f...
Signing Relinquishment Papers: What Needs to Change
There are many hot topic issues in the adoption community, as well as laws and procedures that some feel need to be changed. Today, I want to focus on a procedure I feel needs to be changed from my perspective as a birthmother and that is signing relinquishment papers.
First, I do want to say the l...
What I’m Thankful For As A Birthmother
Thanksgiving is right around the corner. Many people use this time of year to reflect on what they have and what they are thankful for. Over the past couple of years there has even been a social media movement where people list something they are thankful for every day.
As a birthmother, adoption is...
Surviving The Holidays As A Birthmother
Christmas (and other major holidays) as a birthmother is tough. You can almost physically see the missing chair at the dinner table. You know where your child’s stocking should hang on the chimney. You are keenly aware that holidays are a time for families to come together, but you aren’t your child...
Creating Holiday Traditions As A Birthmother
Holiday traditions amongst families are a big deal. As birthmoms, knowing your child isn’t a part of these traditions can be hard. But you can create your own holiday traditions with your child. They may not be the same traditions your family has, but they can be special traditions between you and y...
Choosing To Room With Your Baby Before Placement
If you are pregnant and making an adoption plan, you are likely thinking about your upcoming labor, delivery, and hospital stay. One of the things to give some thought and consideration to (that is a big deal for most placing Moms) is whether to have your new baby room in with you during the hospita...
Repairing A Damaged Relationship With Your Child’s Birthmother
Adoption can be a beautiful thing, but it can also be messy at times. There is a lot of heartache and loss that surrounds adoption. Many adoptive parents go through feelings of loss before turning towards adoption to build their family or while in the adoption process. And for birthmoms, adoption be...
An Open Letter To Hopeful Adoptive Parents
Dear Hopeful Adoptive Parent,
Perhaps you have no children yet running the halls of your home and have turned to adoption to start your family. Or maybe you have adopted a couple of times already or have a few biological kids and are hoping to add a sibling to the mix by adopting. Whatever your bac...
Parenting Vs. Adoption: The Toughest Decision You Will Ever Make
Recently I was talking with an expectant mother considering adoption. She was nearly 7 months pregnant and had been going back and forth between parenting and making an adoption plan. She was reaching out to both single mothers and birthmothers trying to find out what it’s really like.
“Be totally...
Birthmother Retreats: What Are They?
Donate to the 2017 Birth Mother Retreat!
Thirteen years ago, in the spring of 2005, I was having a late-night phone conversation with my best friend and fellow birthmother, Leilani. She and I had met about a year and half prior as the result of an “is anyone out there” post she had placed on an adop...
Interview With Bailey Correll: Legal Representation For Birthparents
Bailey Correll is a clinical medical psychology graduate student at Mercer University in Georgia. Bailey is also a birthmom of 5 years. Bailey is working on an interesting research project from a birth parent’s point of view that looks at the interactions between birth parents and legal professional...