Transcript Adoption Presentation - WESTLAKE HEALTH AND PE

Deciding what is best for me
…and my baby
to keep oneself
from doing
something; to
keep oneself from
doing something
that would result
in a pregnancy
 Think about activities
you enjoy doing now.
 How would these
activities be affected if
you or your girlfriend
became pregnant?
 What would be the
reaction of your
parents, family, and
friends?
 What choices would
you have?
marriage, singleparenting, adoption
HELP WANTED
FULL TIME JOB
 24 HOURS A DAY
 365 DAYS A YEAR
 A MINIMUM OF 18
YEARS
 NO TIME OFF FOR
WEEKENDS OR
HOLIDAYS
 YOU CANNOT QUIT!
DUTIES
 Assume all physical, moral &
financial responsibilities of
another human being
QUALIFICATIONS
 Patience, compassion,
understanding & mature
judgment
SALARY - NONE
 In fact, you must plan on
spending at least $3500 a
year for the privilege of
accepting this job.
 Where will you live?
 How will you provide for the
child?
 Who will provide childcare?
 How does your family feel
about your decision?
 Will you finish school?
 What is your biggest fear
about parenting?
 Necessary Hourly Wage:
 Necessary Monthly Income
 Necessary Annual Income:
1 Child 2 Children
$16.81
$13.81
$2,210
$26,520
$2,690
$32,280
Item
Estimate
Average Cost Per Month
Apartment Rent
$550
Electricity Bill
$40
Gas Bill
$25
Phone Bill
$50
Clothing (for self)
$100
Baby Clothing & Nursery Needs
$200
Food for Self
$200
Food for Baby
$210/mo ($120 formula, $20 baby food, $70 diapers & wipes)
Eating Out (at restaurants)
$100 ($25/week)
Health Insurance for You
$100
Health Insurance for Baby
$100
Car Insurance, Gas, Repairs
$125
Car Payment
$200
Personal Needs (Haircuts, etc.)
$100
Prenatal & Delivery Payment Plan
$800/mo ($8,000 total cost, different if you have insurance)
Medical (Contacts, Prescriptions)
$50
Medical for Baby (Checkups, Shots)
$75
Child Care
$500
Media (Cable, Movies, Newspaper)
$75
Total Monthly Cost
$2850-$3650/mo
(the higher amount includes delivery at $800/mo)
Your Monthly Income
(AFTER taxes)
$966.88 average income AFTER taxes
(if you make at least $7.21 an hour)
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Lower Education attainment
Lower incomes
Less likely to work full time.
More likely to receive
welfare.
5 times more likely to be
poor.
Drop out of school.
Commit crimes as adults.
Less social involvement and
contact with friends.
Higher rates of physical and
psychiatric illness.
 Adoption is the legal
transfer of parental
rights from one person
to another person or
couple. Adoptive
parents have the
same rights and
responsibilities as
parents whose
children are born to
them.
 Is this what is best for
me and my baby?
 Where do I want to be
in 5,10,15 years?
 What do I want my
baby to have in his/her
life?
 MYTH: A birth parent who cares about
his/her child would not even think about
adoption.
 MYTH: A birth parent will never know
anything about his/her child and the
adoptive parents in the following years.
 MYTH: Adoption is an irresponsible solution
to an unplanned pregnancy.
 MYTH: A birth parent will eventually forget
about the child he/she relinquished for
adoption.
 MYTH: All adoptees will grow up to have serious
psychological problems.
 MYTH: No one can love a child as much as the
birth mother.
 MYTH: Since you got pregnant it’s your
responsibility to live with the consequences and
keep the baby.
Children placed in adoptive homes have
better scores in school and engage
in less delinquent behavior than children
raised by a single parent.
Children in adoptive families have better
health status and higher quality
home environment than all other
children.
Mothers who place their child for
adoption are “more likely to finish school
and less likely to live in poverty.”
Mothers who choose adoption are more
likely to marry than those who parent
their baby.
 1,586,004 children
under the age of 18
are adopted—about
2.5% of all children
 1 in 6 homes is
affected by adoption
 19,430 children in
Utah are adopted—
about 2.9%
 Children develop best when
they have warm, intimate,
continuous, and enduring
relationships with their fathers
and their mothers.
Less likely to
 Drop out of school
 Get a divorce or separate
 Be on welfare.
 To become pregnant out of
wedlock
 Engage in delinquent behavior
 Charles Dickens
 Edgar Allen Poe
 Eleanor Roosevelt
 Faith Hill
 Halle Berry
 Jesse Jackson
 John Lennon
 Malcolm X
 Mark Twain
 Daunte Culpepper
 Dave Thomas
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Melissa Gilbert
Steve Jobs
Moses
Nancy Reagan
Nat King Cole
Nelson Mandela
Pres. Gerald Ford
Pres. Bill Clinton
Sarah McLachlan
Scott Hamilton
Ray Liotta
Positive Adoption Language
Negative Adoption Language
 Placing your baby
 Giving your baby up
 Birthmother or biological parent
 Real or natural parent
 Making an adoption plan or
 Giving your child away
choosing adoption
 Child by birth or biological child
 My child or real/natural child
 Finding a family to parent your
 Putting your child up for adoption
child
 What kinds of things are important to you in
choosing an adoptive family?
Location? Religion? Education?
Other Children? Lifestyle/Activities?
 What kind of an adoption would you like?
 How much contact do you want before birth? After birth?
Pictures? Letters? Phone Calls? Visits?
 Would anyone in your extended family wish this as well?
 Birth Plan
 Do you want the adoptive family involved before the birth?
At the birth?
 Confidential (closed)– No contact, birth
mother might not even meet the adoptive
family or look at profiles.
 Semi-open– Meet with adoptive parents
prior to placement. Exchange letters and
pictures through the agency.
 Open– Exchange personal information, visits
between birth parents and adoptive
parents.
 Personal Referrals
 Ask friends and family if they
know possible adoptive parents
or a good adoption attorney
 Adoption Agencies
 Find a good, licensed agency
(ask for references)
 Check out many different
agencies to make sure you feel
comfortable with the one you
choose
 Adoption Attorneys
 Choose one with adoption
experience
 Be sure you and the adoptive
parents do not have the same
attorney
 Internet Websites on Adoption
 Ask those who have had
success with legitimate websites
 1,345,917 births to single women in 2000, this is
double what it was in 1980
 1952-1972 8.7 % of premarital births were placed
for adoption
 1973-1981 4.1% of premarital births were placed
for adoption
 1982-1988 2% of premarital births were placed
for adoption
 Relinquishment– Birth mother must wait at
least 24 hours and cannot be on any
medication.
 Paternity– A birthfather must file a voluntary
declaration of paternity BEFORE the
birthmother signs relinquishment. If he does
not do this he has no rights.
 Finalization– Adoptive Parents must finalize
six months following placement.
 Safe Haven Law- A woman may relinquish
her child at a hospital or police station
without prosecution.
 Your Parents or other
supportive family members
 School Counselor
 Church Leaders
 Health Department or
Social Services
 Adoption Agencies
 Mental Health Center or
Family Services Agency
 Your Teacher
 SEE YOUR TEACHER We have given your teacher a list of books
about adoption, a list of adoption Agencies in Utah, and a toll-free
hotline number to call if you are pregnant and need help.
 Go to www.itsaboutlove.org for information
on adoption and to look anonymously at
couples who are hoping to adopt.
 Go to www.adoption.com for information on
adoption and to look anonymously at couples
who are waiting to adopt.
 Go to www.utahsafehaven.org to find out
more about Utah’s Safe Haven Law.