I read an interesting blog (welcometomybrain.net) from November 2008 about open adoption. An adoptive mother counseled those who were considering a closed adoption- because they were uncomfortable with the idea of openness-to talk  with at least five families in open newborn anddomestic infant adoptions. She suggested reading at least 3-5 books on open adoption. And she wrote, “Realize that your…

Fear, anxiety, confusion—these are just a few of the emotions that a woman faced with an unplanned pregnancy may experience. After all, a positive pregnancy test means that life will never be the same. But that doesn’t have to mean that all hopes, dreams and plans for the future are over. The unselfish act of adoption can keep a birth…

A positive pregnancy test can be cause for joyous celebration. But when a pregnancy is unintended, a wide range of emotions, other than total bliss, can come into play. Disbelief, regret, fear, anger, resentment, embarrassment and even panic are not uncommon emotions in an unplanned pregnancy. And while experiencing any number of these emotions is normal when the news first…

Try to imagine what it might be like for a couple who has been working toward the dream of starting a family, to learn that one of them suffers some kind of infertility. Imagine what it’s like for a couple who has already started a family to learn that it’s medically inadvisable for the mother to carry another pregnancy to…

In an ideal world, all children would have the opportunity to be born into a loving family that can care for them and provide for their needs. But in the real world there are circumstances that can prevent that opportunity from being realized. For a woman learning to deal with an unplanned pregnancywho finds herself in a situation that is…

Pregnancies don’t happen in a vacuum. They have context. Defending the context of pregnancy may seem a little trite, but that idea is often contested by women’s choice advocates when they hear adoption presented as an alternative to abortion. The essential point they want to make, is that more focused attention should be paid to particular choices that occur in…

While much is being done to reduce the rates of teen pregnancy in the U.S., there is still much remaining that can and should be done. The Office of Adolescent Health, a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for example, has set up a Pregnancy Assistance Fund to help provide teen parents with the education, health…

Defending the context of pregnancy may seem a little trite, but that idea is often contested by women’s choice advocates when they hear adoption presented as an alternative to abortion. The essential point they want to make, is that more focused attention should be paid to particular choices that occur in the course of a pregnancy, not the overall course…