The 1-2-3’s of Adoption: How adoption works
I am pregnant and want to know about adoption
For more than 35 years, Catholic Charities has provided adoption services and is a Licensed Child Placing agency who affirms life. Once you become pregnant, your maternity can never be given away. You will always be a mother. There will never be a day in your life when you do not remember your child. You are the birth mother to your child forever. The decision to place a child for adoption must be arrived at as a free act of love; it is a decision that you make. It comes as an answer to a question often posed in prayer. It is not something arrived at simply by human reasoning. It is a response of the heart. The decision for adoption, when it is done, is a heroic act of self sacrificing love. You will be the one who decides that adoption is best for you and best for your child. It has its sorrow, but it participates in the mystery of life and great love.
Below is a simple outline of how the process works from start to finish.
Step 1 - Make an inquiry call
- Call Catholic Charities 918.949.HOPE (4673) ext. 113
- Talk to an adoption professional
- You do not have to be Catholic - in fact, most birth parents are not Catholic
Step 2 - Receive information about adoption
- We'll meet and review the adoption process and review profiles of prospective adoptive parents.
- We can meet at the office or place of your choosing – a place of comfort for you. It may be a coffee shop!
Step 3 – Review services available
We will help you arrange for the following services at no fee:
- Medical care
- Birthing Classes
- Maternity clothes
- Staff attorneys – prepare for court
- Counseling and emotional support
- Support from other women who have made an adoption plan
- Educational opportunities
- Information exchange between adoptive parents and birth parents
- Post-placement support
- Post-adoption services
Madonna House, an on-campus residential program, is for pregnant women (above the age of 18) that includes:
- Safe environment
- School ( GED)
- Career Development
- Activities - activities include: movies, shopping trips, eating out, picnics, cook-outs, game night, etc.
Step 4 - Select the adoptive parents
- Identify the qualities you are searching for in the adoptive parents
- Review the Profiles Scrapbooks about prospective parents
- Choose the adoptive parents when you are ready
- Almost all of the adoptive parents and birth mothers meet face to face and maintain contact after placement. The amount of contact is your decision.
Step 5 – Delivery at the hospital and placement 
- Prepare for delivery by attending birthing classes
- You determine how much care you will provide for the baby at the hospital
- The child is placed with the adoptive parents from the hospital
- As a birth mother, you sign the relinquishment papers at Court before a Judge 7-10 days after the delivery
Step 6 - Post-Adoption services
- Maintain contact with the baby and adoptive family according to your preference
- Birth parents receive e-mails, phone calls and photos of the child they placed for adoption
- Ongoing support and counseling
- When adoptees turn 18, at Court, you will determine if they will have a copy of the court transcript and be able to contact you.
For more information about how adoption works, call 918.949.HOPE (4673) ext. 113. We have adoption professionals waiting to help you make a plan for you and your baby's future.
Still have questions? Try here.
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