In today’s era of adoptions expectant mothers making adoption plans are able to choose the adoptive parents that they would like to raise their baby. This hasn’t always been possible. Older birthmothers were not given the option of choosing the adoptive parents.

Choosing a family can be overwhelming and confusing at times. Before you begin the process of choosing a family for your baby it is helpful to think about what type of characteristics you would like the family to have. Do you want one of them to be a stay at home parent? Do you want the family to already have a child or none at all? Do you want them to be a certain religion? All of these are characteristics you can request in a potential family. It’s ok to even make a list of what you desire in a family.

Typically (especially if you are working with an adoption agency) you will first be given some profiles of hopeful couples. These profiles include a letter from the adoptive parents to you the reader, photos, general information about them, etc... And will give you a glimpse as to what type of people they are. When you are ready you can meet some of the prospective adoptive parents whose profiles you liked.

A few things to think about when choosing a family:

• Do you want a two parent family? Keep in mind a two parent family isn’t necessary to raise a baby and just because you choose a two parent family doesn’t mean that they will always remain a two parent family.



• Do you prefer a stay at home parent?



• Is religion important to you?



• Do you want the family to have other children?



• Are the ages of the parents important to you?



• Do you and the prospective adoptive family have the same vision for an adoption plan?

For more information and ideas on what you should think about when choosing a family, please visit the following links:

• Birthparent Checklist



• Choosing Adoptive Parents



• Meeting Hopeful Adoptive Parents