If you choose open adoption, during your pregnancy you will work
with an adoption counselor to make an adoption plan for your child.
A large part of making your plan will involve choosing a family for
your child. Many adoption agencies begin this process by having
you look at profiles of families who are waiting to adopt. These
profiles typically include letters from the parent(s), pictures and
information about themselves. After looking in the book you may
decide to meet with one or more families to discuss openness issues, background information, reasons for making an adoption plan, etc. From this meeting, you and the adoptive parents decide whether or not to make an adoption plan with one another.
After you and the adoptive parent(s) have decided to make an adoption plan together you will need to work on a cooperative agreement. This document is an agreement between you and the adoptive parents that will address issues such as who will cover prenatal and hospital costs, who will be present in the delivery room, when will the child be placed into the adoptive parents home (typically directly from the hospital) and how will contact between the birth mother/parents and adoptive parent(s) be scheduled after the adoption is finalized.
Part of any successful adoption plan also includes taking care of the birth mother/parents after the placement of the child into the adoptive parent's home. Many adoption agencies offer continued counseling to women to help them deal with feelings of loss that they may experience. Additionally, most communities have birth parent support groups so that you can connect with other people that have also made adoption plans.
