Private Adoption vs. CPS [What Professionals Need to Know]

As a hospital staff worker, you never experience the same day twice. Maybe you have already had an experience with adoption, or maybe you haven’t. Whatever the case may be, there are some key things that you need to know about the benefits of private adoption for birth mothers.

Remember that you can always contact us online to get free adoption information now. Our dedicated staff at American Adoptions would love to help you at any time! But, we’ve also created this primer on adoption for hospital workers. Continue reading to learn everything that you need to know about why adoption is often the best option for birth mothers and adoptees alike.

Adoption for Hospital Workers Explained [Private Adoption vs. CPS]

When you work with prospective birth mothers in the hospital, you may come across some women who are dealing with substance abuse, addiction and other challenges in their lives. Sometimes, babies are born addicted to drugs because of this. This is where Child Protective Services (CPS) may intervene.

Sometimes, risk factors are present that may result in the need for a hotline. In that case, help is always available at 1-800-662-4357 at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) hotline.

Of course, any time you suspect that a child is being born into an unsafe situation, it is necessary and important to look out for the child’s best interest. But, if the prospective birth mother has been working with a private adoption agency like American Adoptions and has a voluntary adoption plan in place, any CPS agency must be aware of the adoption plan immediately.

CPS caseworkers can take the baby and place them in foster care, but, in most cases, this is far from the best option for a child. When a woman has made a voluntary adoption plan, it means she has already chosen qualified adoptive parents, and that she wants her baby to be placed directly in their care at birth. In other words, she is trying to create a safe plan for her baby.

Private adoption means immediate permanence, whereas foster care could mean 18 years of bouncing from home to home with less stability. Often, if a child is removed, this also takes away a lot of the birth mother’s choices and control. It’s ultimately not as positive for the baby, too.

The good news is that, as a hospital worker, you can advocate for the birth mother’s wishes with CPS staff. On top of this, the birth mother will have an adoption specialist at American Adoptions who can work alongside CPS caseworkers to ensure the best outcome possible for the child. We understand that you’re a mandated reporter, but you can still advocate for the adoption plan and the birth mother’s wishes.

But, how do you go about advocating for the adoption, exactly? That’s why we’re here to educate you about the benefits of following a birth mother’s private adoption plan.

Picking the Right Adoptive Family for Their Child

One of the most significant benefits of private adoption for birth parents is that they get to choose the perfect adoptive family for their baby. Whether they have created an adoption plan early in their pregnancy or created a last-minute plan, the prospective birth mother always has the right to select her child’s adoptive parents.

When prospective birth mothers work with American Adoptions, they can choose specific details about their child’s adoptive family. These include:

• Demographics such as age, religion, race and ethnicity
• The type of family, such as a same-sex couple, opposite-sex couple or a single parent
• The state, city or neighborhood that the family lives in
• Their hobbies, interests and values
• And much more

With these preferences in mind, a trusted professional at American Adoptions will show them adoptive family profiles. These profiles will match the birth mother’s preferences and needs, and they can browse these profiles until they find the perfect adoptive family for their baby. Also, the birth mother can rest easy knowing that all these families have gone through a rigorous home study process and have been approved to adopt in their state.

Once they choose the family, the adoption professional can mediate a conversation between the prospective birth mother and the hopeful adoptive parents. This is so that the birth mother can feel 100% confident that they’ve picked the right family.

The birth mother can continue a relationship with the adoptive family after this conversation, too. They can stay in touch through:

• Phone calls
• Texts
• Emails
• Zoom or Skype
• In-person visits
• Handwritten letters
• Or whatever the birth mother feels comfortable with

In some cases, the prospective birth mother may not want to choose the adoptive family. American Adoptions respects the choices of everyone we work with. We should also mention that, often, if the child is placed in protective custody with a state agency, the biological parents lose the opportunity to be a part of a placement plan. The family that she’s chosen has agreed to take custody of the baby from birth and provide them with a permanent home. This contrasts foster care, which is usually temporary and means a baby may have many placements.

Choosing the Level of Openness in Adoption

On top of selecting the family, the prospective birth mother also gets to choose the level of openness in their private adoption. In other words, they get to decide what type of relationship they would like to have with their child’s adoptive family. We should mention that every family American Adoptions works with commits to an open adoption plan. This means that all involved parties maintain contact before, throughout and after the adoption, if that’s what the birth mother wants.

But, some prospective birth mothers may prefer a semi-open adoption or even a closed adoption. In a closed adoption, there is little to no contact between the prospective birth mother and the adoptive family, whereas an adoption professional mediates all contact between the two parties in a semi-open adoption. Whatever the case may be, American Adoptions will help birth mothers find the perfect adoptive parents for their children.

It’s worth noting that open adoption tends to be in the best interests of the child. This is because they can grow up knowing why they were placed for adoption and who their birth parents are. It fills a void in a child’s life, and closed adoption often means no contact between the child and the birth family. If CPS places the child in foster care, then the birth mother loses control of the contact she can have with her child and their family.

Also, the child may lose important connections with biological relatives, which are necessary for healthy identity information and self-esteem. There can be a severe lack of medical information and answers to important questions, too.

Placing Sibling Groups Together

Depending on the age range, American Adoptions can help place siblings together, if needed. So, if there is any concern that CPS could intervene with the birth mother’s other children and she’d rather place the siblings with the same adoptive family, this is something American Adoptions might be able to help with.

You may have noticed that we said this depends on the age range. This is because it can be more difficult to place older children for adoption. American Adoptions specializes in placing newborns and infants, so we can place siblings only if the children fall under that age range.

American Adoptions, in particular, will not split up children with different adoptive families if the birth mother would like to keep them together. We understand how important it is to keep sibling groups together. If one baby is born with drug addiction, then the CPS can get involved with their siblings, too. The good news is that American Adoptions can place these siblings together, which gives the birth mother more control and greater benefits. When CPS takes a baby away, there is no guarantee that the siblings will end up together, which can lead to both of them feeling like something important in their life is missing.

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As a hospital worker, you may be able to support birth mothers’ wishes to provide a stable home for her child. You can advocate for the adoption and use this knowledge of the birth mother’s benefits to your advantage. But, we understand if you have some more questions. That’s why you can always fill out our online contact form to get more adoption information now.

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