What OBGYNs Need to Know About Adoption [Supporting Your Patients]

As an OBGYN, you play an important role in supporting patients through pregnancy, delivery and their decisions about what comes next.

When a patient is considering placing her baby for adoption, your care can help ensure she feels comfortable, respected and supported throughout her hospital experience.

Understanding your role in the adoption process, how to accommodate a patient's adoption plan and when to involve other professionals can help you provide the best possible care.

You can find the next video about what hospital staff should know later in this article for additional guidance.

If you need guidance on supporting a patient considering adoption, contact an American Adoptions specialist or call 1-800-ADOPTION to speak with a Birth Parent Specialist.

How American Adoptions Supports Your Patients

When you refer a patient to American Adoptions, she can receive personalized guidance and support throughout the adoption process. Our services include:

• More Adoptive Families to Choose From: As a national adoption agency, American Adoptions gives expectant mothers access to a diverse network of carefully screened families, helping them find a family that reflects their hopes for their child.
• Open Adoption Planning: Your patient can choose her child's adoptive family and decide what kind of relationship she wants after placement, including communication through an open or semi-open adoption.
• Financial Assistance: Depending on her circumstances and state law, your patient may qualify for assistance with pregnancy-related living expenses and other allowable costs. Our specialists can help her understand and arrange available support.
• Post-Adoption Support: Our support continues after placement, with counseling and guidance available to help birth parents navigate their emotions and adjust to life after adoption.
• 24/7 Professional Support: Adoption specialists are available around the clock to answer questions, provide counseling and address adoption-specific needs, allowing your medical team to focus on patient care.

When Should an OBGYN Contact American Adoptions?

Contact American Adoptions as soon as your patient expresses interest in learning about adoption, requests adoption-specific resources or needs help creating an adoption or hospital plan. You do not need to wait until your patient has made a final decision to connect her with professional guidance.

A simple referral threshold is to contact American Adoptions whenever a patient needs adoption information or support beyond what your medical team can provide. This may include when a patient:

• Asks about the adoption process, her legal rights or other adoption-specific questions your medical team cannot answer
• Needs nonjudgmental options counseling from an adoption professional
• Wants help choosing a screened adoptive family or creating an adoption plan
• Has questions about financial assistance for pregnancy-related living expenses
• Needs help developing a hospital plan that reflects her preferences for labor and delivery
• Requests to speak directly with an adoption specialist during pregnancy or after birth

Making a referral does not commit your patient to adoption. American Adoptions provides free, confidential 24/7 counseling and support to help expectant parents understand their options, including parenting, so they can make an informed decision.

What OBGYNs Should Know About the Hospital Adoption Plan

A hospital adoption plan helps communicate your patient's preferences for labor, delivery and time with her baby. American Adoptions works with expectant mothers to create a personalized plan that outlines important decisions, including:

• Who will be present during labor and delivery
• Who can hold and spend time with the baby
• Preferences for feeding and newborn care
• Whether the adoptive family will be involved during the hospital stay

As an OBGYN, you and your hospital team can use this plan to understand and respect your patient's wishes throughout her stay. However, preferences may change during labor or after delivery, so it's important to check in with your patient and confirm what she currently wants.

Your patient's decisions should always guide her care, and her adoption specialist can help communicate any changes to the hospital team.

What if Your Patient Decides on Adoption at the Hospital?

Even without an existing adoption plan, she can still explore her options and receive professional support without feeling pressured to make an immediate decision. When this happens, hospital staff can take the following steps:

• Step 1: Continue Providing Appropriate Medical Care: Prioritize your patient's physical and emotional well-being while treating her with the same dignity and respect as any other patient.
• Step 2: Respect Her Wishes: Ask about her preferences for infant contact, feeding and recovery while giving her the time and space to consider her options.
• Step 3: Ask Permission to Make a Referral: Find out if she would like to speak with an adoption professional who can answer her questions and explain her options.
• Step 4: Connect Her With American Adoptions: Call 1-800-ADOPTION to connect her with an adoption specialist who can help her explore her options and determine her next steps.

What if She Questions Her Decision?

It's natural for a patient to feel uncertain about adoption, especially as she approaches delivery or spends time with her baby. She may reconsider her adoption plan or have questions about her options, and it's important that she feels comfortable expressing those feelings without pressure.

As an OBGYN, you can support your patient by listening without judgment and respecting her decision-making process. You can also offer to connect her with an adoption specialist for confidential counseling and guidance as she explores her options.

Your patient has the right to decide whether to move forward with adoption, and her wishes should remain central to the care and support she receives.

How OBGYNs Can Support a Patient Choosing Adoption

Every hospital has its own policies for handling adoption situations. Along with following these guidelines, OBGYNs can support patients considering adoption by providing compassionate medical care, respecting their individual wishes and involving adoption professionals when additional guidance is needed.

Respect Her Wishes and Her Right to Make Decisions

Your patient's adoption and hospital plans can help communicate her preferences for delivery, time with her baby and other aspects of her hospital experience. While these plans provide helpful guidance for your medical team, your patient remains in control of her decisions and may change her wishes at any time.

Providing compassionate medical care, respecting her choices and remaining neutral about whether she ultimately chooses adoption can help her feel comfortable and supported throughout her hospital stay.

Use Sensitive, Neutral Language

Patients considering adoption may experience a range of emotions throughout pregnancy and delivery. Using thoughtful, nonjudgmental language can help them feel comfortable discussing their wishes without feeling pressured or misunderstood.

When discussing pregnancy, delivery or the baby, avoid making assumptions about how your patient feels or whether she will ultimately choose adoption. Listen to her concerns, use the language she prefers and allow her to guide conversations about her experience.

If she has adoption-specific emotional concerns or needs additional support, you can offer to connect her with an adoption specialist for confidential counseling and guidance.

Make Sure Relevant Medical Staff Know the Hospital Plan

Throughout pregnancy and delivery, your patient may interact with physicians, nurses and social workers. Clear communication among relevant staff can help ensure everyone understands her adoption and hospital plans and respects her current preferences.

Sharing appropriate updates with those involved in her care can help prevent misunderstandings and create a more consistent, supportive experience. Any communication should follow hospital policies and patient privacy requirements while allowing medical professionals to make decisions based on their clinical judgment.

Know When to Bring in Her Adoption Specialist

Involve your patient's adoption specialist whenever questions or concerns extend beyond medical care. While OBGYNs and labor and delivery nurses provide essential medical guidance, adoption specialists can address the legal, financial and emotional aspects of adoption. Contact her adoption specialist when:

• Questions Arise About Her Adoption Plan: The specialist can help your patient create or adjust her adoption plan, including preferences for her hospital experience and communication with the adoptive family.
• The Patient Has Legal Questions: Adoption consent, birth father rights and legal paperwork vary by state and should be addressed by qualified adoption professionals and legal counsel.
• The Patient Asks About Financial Assistance: Her specialist can explain available assistance for pregnancy-related expenses and help coordinate support in accordance with state law.
• Coordination With the Adoptive Family Is Needed: The specialist can facilitate communication and help ensure interactions respect your patient's wishes.
• The Patient Needs Emotional Support: American Adoptions provides free, 24/7 counseling to help patients navigate their feelings, questions or uncertainty about adoption.

Involving an adoption specialist allows your medical team to remain focused on patient care while ensuring your patient receives the guidance and support she needs.

Have a Patient Considering Adoption? We’re Here to Help

When a patient is considering adoption or needs adoption-specific support, American Adoptions is here to help. Our experienced Birth Parent Specialists work with OBGYNs, nurses and hospital staff to answer questions, support patients and coordinate the adoption-related aspects of their plans.

Call 1-800-ADOPTION and ask to speak with a birth parent specialist to connect your patient with free, confidential support. Our team is available 24/7 to provide guidance and help ensure your patient receives the care and resources she needs.

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