Imagine… you are 19 years old, single, living away from home for the first time and you find yourself staring at a positive pregnancy test. What would your first thoughts be? Who would you turn to? Would you know your options?
This was me and at that time I had no idea what adoption was. I never knew anyone who was adopted or anyone who was open to talking about it. My parents had taught me adoption over abortion, but I truly didn't know what that meant. I was terrified, uneducated and feeling very alone.
My first thoughts about adoption was, 'what if I see my baby and can't let her/him go?'
I turned to my family and friends for guidance and support, none of which had any experience with adoption.
I met with a local agency and became more educated on my options, enough so to help me make my decision to place my baby for adoption. However, I wish I would have had the social media connection to thousands of hopeful adoptive couples, birth moms who had been through this experience before and people who had been in the adoption world for years.
I was an expectant parent who truly didn't know what to expect next. Each day was a new learning experience and even the social worker who was assigned to me had never actually been through a placement before mine. I didn't even know if the emotions I was going through were normal for a birth mom, but I had nothing to rely on but what I had been taught by the agency I was placing with.
Imagine… expectant parents and hopeful adoptive couples who know all of their options, have experienced people to help them and a web site to connect them both. That is what I believe Parentfinder is. Connecting expectant parents with hopeful adoptive couples and helping the two become more educated in the process of adoption.
Go here to read more about Parentfinder.
