One scenario that you might be facing in dealing with your family and their reactions to your pregnancy is their reactions to your choice. For example, in my own situation, my parents (my Dad especially) were supportive of adoption, but were leery of open adoption. They weren’t purposely trying to be unsupportive but they just didn’t understand the concept of open adoption or really even know anything about it. In their day, closed adoptions were the norm, the girl who was pregnant was sent away to have the baby, and it was never spoken of again, supposedly to be forgotten. It could be that your parents are unsupportive of your decision to parent.

Regardless though, the support of family is important, so you may wish to educate your family about whatever option you have decided. Using my situation as an example, in hindsight I now know I probably should have educated my Dad about what open adoption is and the benefits of open adoption for both of my children by giving his websites to visit, articles to read, etc. and asking him if he had any questions about open adoption. I also probably should have explained my reasons for choosing open adoption to him.

If you are choosing to parent, show your parents some of your research that you have done about parenting options, financial assistance, etc. Tell them about the resources and programs you have found to assist you in being a good Mother or financially being able to parent your child. Show them that you are looking at your options and your resources. Let them see that you are preparing and that you are taking this seriously.

I am happy to say that my Dad has come around to open adoption and is now involved and sees Charlie occasionally through out the year. It has taken us some time to get there. I have done the things I have suggested you do in this article and it has helped, I just didn’t know to do them during pregnancy so I wasn’t able to help my Dad understand all of this until Charlie was actually here.

While your parents may still not be happy with your decision, hopefully educating them and proving to them that you are preparing for this baby will help them to eventually come around and be able to fully support you.

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More about dealing with your family's reactions to your pregnancy:
How to Tell Your Family you are Pregnant
Telling Your Parents
Your Parents' Reaction