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Tag: Families looking to adopt my baby

Adoption Process Birthmother

IF I PUT MY BABY UP FOR ADOPTION, CAN I PICK THE ADOPTIVE FAMILY?

ABSOLUTELY, if you work with Adoption Attorneys Kirsh & Kirsh, P.C. (“Kirsh & Kirsh”). Years ago, pregnant women, with untimely pregnancies or unplanned pregnancies would go to adoption agencies to give up for adoption their babies, or more correctly, make adoption plans for their newborns. The agencies, using their own criteria, decided who would adopt a woman’s baby, with little or no input from her. Adoption Law Firms like Kirsh & Kirsh understood that pregnant women wanted to decide for themselves who would adopt. Of course, they wanted the prospective adoptive parents to undergo careful screening and investigation, but the expectant mothers, who would be entrusting the lives of their precious babies to a family, found greater peace if they could direct which family adopted. Now, almost all local adoption agencies and national adoption agencies follow the model that Kirsh & Kirsh pioneered in Indiana nearly 40 years ago and give the birth parents the option of choosing the adoptive parents.

We at Kirsh & Kirsh have lots of wonderful, carefully screened, loving families, FROM INDIANA AND ALL OVER THE COUNTRY (married, single, Lesbian, and Gay) who cannot wait to welcome a baby into their hearts and homes and are happy to assist with living expenses to the full extent allowed by law.

The “Kirsh Boys,” as the adoption attorneys at Kirsh & Kirsh, are sometimes called – Steve, and his brothers, Joel and Rob, and his son, Grant – pride themselves on answering questions about adoption and explaining the process without pressure or judgment. They cannot make adoption an easy choice, but they can make it less scary by removing some of the unknowns. Ultimately, a birth parent will have to decide if adoption is in their own best interests and the best interests of their child. We, at Kirsh & Kirsh, will not and cannot make that decision for anyone, but we can provide information and answers to questions.

Our contact information is below.  We will answer your questions and provide you the information you seek, without cost or obligation on your part. In other words, talking to us is FREE and does NOT mean you ever have to talk or text with us, again. The Kirsh Boys have 90 YEARS OF COMBINED EXPERIENCE practicing adoption law. We can help you find an AMAZING, WONDERFUL, adoptive home for your precious baby, whether you live in Russiaville or Kokomo, Columbus or Indianapolis, Evansville or Connersville, or Richmond or Ft. Wayne, or any Indiana county or city in between, or ANYWHERE in Tennessee, Mississippi, or Kentucky.

You can call, text and or email us anytime —call: 317-575-5555, text: 317-721-2030, email: AdoptionSupport@kirsh.com, or Facebook message:  https://www.facebook.com/KirshandKirsh/. We answer our office phone 24 hours a day, every single day. We try to respond to emails and text messages within minutes of receipt.

POSITIVE ADOPTION LANGUAGE DISCLAIMER:  Please understand that these blog posts are written in a way to use language that people use when searching for help with their adoption plans.  Unfortunately, while all of us understand what positive adoption language means, most expectant moms that come to us at first do not understand what that means. The most common search term on the Internet for expectant moms is “how do I give up my baby for adoption”.  If we do not include those words in our blog posts, and instead put “how do I create an adoption plan for my baby” then our website will not show up in most expectant mom’s search results in Google.

Adoption Process Birthmother

IF I PUT MY BABY UP FOR ADOPTION, WHO NAMES THE BABY?

Surprisingly, BOTH the adoptive parents AND the birth mother name the baby, but not necessarily the same name. This may sound confusing, but it is not. After the baby is born, the birth certificate clerk at the hospital or the hospital registrar will ask the birth mother if she would like to name the baby. Some birth mothers consult with the prospective adoptive parents and name the baby what the adoptive parents have chosen, others choose a name meaningful to them, and still, others leave the name blank. However, whether or not the birth mother chooses a name, the adoptive parents will name the baby, and the state department of health will issue a new post-adoption birth certificate as part of the adoption proceedings, EVEN IF the birth mother and adoptive parents chose the name together. You might ask, why would the state department of health issue a new birth certificate if the birth mother and adoptive parents agree on the name. The answer is that the original birth certificate will show the birth mother’s name (and birth father’s name, if he signs a paternity affidavit at the hospital) as the child’s parent or parents. The post-adoption birth certificate will list the adoptive parents as parents of the child.

The four attorneys at Kirsh & Kirsh, P.C., have 93 years of combined experience practicing adoption law. If you have questions about putting your baby up for adoption, or more correctly, making an adoption plan for your baby, don’t hesitate to contact us. We have assisted numerous birth mothers with their adoption plans and will be more than happy to help you. We will answer your questions and provide you the information you seek, without cost or obligation on your part. In other words, talking to us costs you nothing, nor does it mean you ever have to talk or text with us again. We can assist you with an Indiana adoption no matter whether you live in Plymouth or Huntingburg, Madison or Marion, Winamac or Bedford, or any Indiana county or city in between.

We have lots of wonderful, carefully screened, loving families (married, single, Lesbian, and Gay) who cannot wait to welcome a baby into their hearts and homes and are happy to assist with living expenses to the full extent allowed by law.

You can call, text, and or email us anytime —call: 317-575-5555, text: 317-721-2030, email: AdoptionSupport@kirsh.com, or a Facebook message:  https://www.facebook.com/KirshandKirsh/. We answer our office phone 24 hours a day, every single day. We try to respond to emails and text messages within minutes of receipt.

POSITIVE ADOPTION LANGUAGE DISCLAIMER:  Please understand that these blog posts are written in a way to use language that people use when searching for help with their adoption plans.  Unfortunately, while all of us understand what positive adoption language means, most expectant moms that come to us at first do not understand what that means. The most common search term on the Internet for expectant moms is “how do I give up my baby for adoption.”  If we do not include those words in our blog posts and instead put “how do I create an adoption plan for my baby,” then our website will not show up in most expectant mom’s search results in Google.

Birthmother

If I Give Up My Baby For Adoption, Will DCS, CPS, Or CHFS Try To Interfere?

No. Neither the Indiana nor Tennessee Department of Children Services (“DCS”),  nor the Mississippi Department of Child Protective Services (“CPS”), nor the Kentucky Child Protection Branch (“CHFS”) will get involved BECAUSE you place a newborn for adoption. Those state, child protection agencies investigate children in need of services — children who suffer from neglect or abuse. A child placed for adoption through an adoption law firm, like Kirsh & Kirsh, P.C. (“Kirsh & Kirsh”) or an adoption agency is NOT a child in need of services. Kirsh & Kirsh only works with prospective adoptive parents who undergo thorough screenings and investigations before the court grants the adoption. By definition, a birth mother who makes an adoption plan for her child is NOT neglecting or abandoning her child – she has assured her child of a bright future, in a safe, secure home.

If you test positive for drugs at the time of delivery, the hospital will have to file a report the child protection agencies, but Kirsh & Kirsh has successfully gotten DCS in Indiana to step back and allow an adoption to proceed, rather than take the child from the hospital and place the child into a foster home. We have even had success in doing so in what we call a “surprise baby” situation – a last-minute adoption for a birth mother who had not planned for the adoption prior to the birth of the child.

We, at Kirsh & Kirsh, have assisted numerous pregnant women, in Indiana and around the country, over the last 35+ years find loving, happy, wonderful homes for their babies. We give expectant mothers and birth mothers as much or as little involvement in the family selection process as they would like.

We have lots of wonderful, carefully screened, loving families (married, single, Lesbian, and Gay) who cannot wait to welcome a baby into their hearts and homes and happy to assist with living expenses to the full extent allowed by law.

You can call, text, and or email us anytime —call: 317-575-5555, text: 317-721-2030, email: AdoptionSupport@kirsh.com, or a Facebook message:  https://www.facebook.com/KirshandKirsh/. We answer our office phone 24 hours a day, every single day. We try to respond to emails and text messages within minutes of receipt.

Uncategorized

WHICH ADOPTION ATTORNEY OR ADOPTION AGENCY IS THE BEST IN INDIANA, TENNESSEE, MISSISSIPPI, AND KENTUCKY?

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” Individuals will make their judgment of who is the “Best” of anything, based upon factors they considered important. Some people will consider the following factors in determining who is the best Adoption Attorney or Adoption Agency in Indiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky:

  1. How years of experience does the adoption agency or adoption attorney have? However, look carefully: some agencies and law firms will add the years of experience of all their employees together to give the impression of having more years of experience than the agency or firm really has. Most would agree that an adoption attorney who has been handling adoptions for 35+ years has more experience than an adoption agency with 7 employees and claims to have “combined” experience of 35 years (7 employees times 5 years each). 
  2. Compare apples to apples. In other words, if you need help with a step-parent adoption, look for an adoption professional with lots of experience handling step-parent adoptions. Likewise, if you ask an agency or law firm how many adoptions they have handled and you are interested in newborn adoption, ask for the newborn adoption number, without including step-parent or DCS adoptions.
  3. What have others said? Which adoption agency or attorney has more 5-Star Google Reviews and/or Facebook “Likes”?
  4. If you are a pregnant woman considering giving your baby up for adoption (or more correctly: making an adoption plan or placing your child for adoption) – with whom has your OBGYN or the local hospital social worker had a good experience as an adoption professional? 
  5. How easy is it to reach the adoption professional? Which adoption agency or adoption attorney answers their telephone 24/7/365 by a member of their regular office staff, or does you call go to voice mail or an answering service?
  6. Does the adoption attorney or adoption agency have an established place of business or, at least, a licensed attorney in your state? Or does a national adoption agency just have online presence? Who do you think understands adoption law and procedure better – an attorney licensed to practice law in your state or a national adoption agency with a big Internet presence? 
  7. Is the adoption provider even a lawyer or an adoption agency or just a “baby broker”? Are they licensed as lawyers or a child-placing agency?

Again, people will have their own criteria in deciding with whom they would like to work as they consider adoption. For most people, trusting their “gut feeling” usually works out well. Or, to say it differently, “follow your instincts.”

We, at Kirsh & Kirsh, P.C., have assisted numerous pregnant women, in Indiana, over the last 35+ years, and more recently in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky, find loving, happy, wonderful homes for their babies. We give expectant mothers and birth mothers as much or as little involvement in the family selection process as they would like. 

We have lots of wonderful, carefully screened, loving families (married, single, Lesbian, and Gay) who cannot wait to welcome a baby into their hearts and homes and happy to assist with living expenses to the full extent allowed by law.

You can call, text and or email us anytime —call: 317-575-5555, text: 317-721-2030, email: AdoptionSupport@kirsh.com, or Facebook message:  https://www.facebook.com/KirshandKirsh/. We answer our office phone 24 hours a day, every single day. We try to respond to emails and text messages within minutes of receipt.

Adoptive Parent Birthmother

What is the Difference between an Adoption and Utilizing a Safe Haven Law?

The Safe Haven Laws in Indiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky enable a person to leave a newborn at certain safe places without fear of criminal liability for child abandonment or neglect.

Recently, we, at Adoption Attorneys Kirsh & Kirsh, P.C. (“Kirsh & Kirsh”) met a birth mother at a hospital after she delivered her baby. Prior to giving birth, she told her doctor and hospital social worker that she wanted to invoke Safe Haven for the baby. She INCORRECTLY believed that if she gave the baby up for adoption, or more correctly placed the baby for adoption, she would have to pick the family who would adopt. She worried that she might jeopardize the well-being of her baby by picking the wrong family to adopt and felt that if she simply left the baby at the hospital, the authorities would take care of the baby and find a good home for the baby.

In fact, she correctly assumed that Child Protective Services (“CPS”), which is part of the Department of Children Services (“DCS”), would take care of the baby and find a good home. BUT, she would not know anything about the family and would not receive updates on how the baby grew and developed over the years. Additionally, the baby would go into foster care, possibly for several months. She did not want foster care for her baby.

Fortunately, her doctor had a number of patients and friends who adopted through Kirsh & Kirsh, giving the birth mother confidence that we, at Kirsh & Kirsh, were the right adoption professionals to help her. She asked the hospital to contact us. When we first spoke with her, she told us she still did not want to choose adoptive parents for her baby – she did not feel qualified to make that decision. We listened to her preferences for the type of family she wanted and presented her the profile of a family, which included lots of photos and information. She loved them. Although she originally told us she wanted a closed adoption, she decided to meet them when they came to the hospital late that night. The next day the family told us that she and they talked long into the morning. They all felt at peace having had the chance to meet and get to know each other. Meeting the family reaffirmed the good feelings the birth mother had about the family after having read their profile and looking at the pictures, they included with what they wrote. Neither she nor the adoptive parents would have had that chance through Safe Haven. Many of the pregnant women with whom we work want to review the profiles of several families and choose who will adopt. This mom did not. At Kirsh & Kirsh, we try to handle each adoption in the way most comfortable to all involved.

Also, she still has not decided if she would like to receive updates about the child, but the adoptive parents will put together lots of photographs and letters for her over the coming months and continuing for 18 years, should she decide later on that she wants them.

UNQUESTIONABLY, the Safe Haven Laws in Indiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky have saved the lives of many precious babies and given birth mothers an option of leaving their babies in safe places, rather a dumpster, as has happened all too many times. But, making an adoption plan for the baby gives the birth mother more options – she does not have to take advantage of those options, but she has them.

Additionally, as the name suggests, by making an adoption “plan” for a baby, she can feel proud that she fulfilled her role as a mother. Even though she will not do the parenting, she creates a parenting plan for her baby.  She assures her baby of the opportunity for a bright future, in a loving and secure home – a very MOTHERLY thing to do!

We have lots of wonderful, carefully screened, loving families (married, single, Lesbian, and Gay) who cannot wait to welcome a baby into their hearts and homes and happy to assist with living expenses to the full extent allowed by law.

You can call, text and or email us anytime. To contact us—call: 317-575-5555, text: 317-721-2030, email: AdoptionSupport@kirsh.com, or Facebook message:  https://www.facebook.com/KirshandKirsh/. We answer our office phone 24 hours a day, every single day. We try to respond to emails and text messages within minutes of receipt.

Birthmother

A Family Approached Me About Letting Them Adopt My Baby – Should I Let Them?

While it may seem like a difficult or overwhelming task at first, the reality is if you are pregnant and thinking about giving up your baby for adoption (or more correctly – making an adoption plan) finding families wanting to adopt a baby is actually quite easy. Someone always knows someone, who knows someone, who wants a baby. Families hoping to adopt may have already approached you or had someone else approach you for them. It may help that your sister or best friend (or aunt, or co-worker, or friend of a friend, etc.) says that they think a particular family would provide a good home for your baby, but are you willing to, quite literally, entrust your child’s life to a person or persons based upon the recommendation of a well-intentioned, but untrained, friend? Do the prospective adoptive parents have health, marital, financial, or criminal problems? A history of substance or physical abuse? Those are not things that people typically disclose to others, particularly if they believe it would reflect on them poorly, and especially if they are wanting to adopt someone’s baby. (These things are, however, disclosed during the home study process.) Sure, you may want to help them, but ask yourself – what is most important to me? Helping a seemingly nice family or being confident you have found a safe, secure, loving home for your unborn baby? Wouldn’t you like to consider a number of already carefully, pre-screened prospective adoptive parents?

Placing a baby for adoption takes incredible courage, thoughtfulness, and most importantly trust that the adoptive parents will provide your child with the best life possible, with opportunities to enjoy life and reach their full potential. That is why you should consider working with a licensed, adoption agency or experienced adoption attorney, who can match you with those carefully screened and homestudy approved families.

We at Kirsh & Kirsh, P.C. (“Kirsh & Kirsh”), have assisted numerous expectant and birth mothers find just the right family for their babies. We have four licensed attorneys in Indiana, one of whom is also licensed in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi. If you do not live in one of those states we can find an experienced adoption professional to assist you in your state of residence. We will provide you with profiles of lots of wonderful, carefully screened families, and if you would like, we will arrange for you to talk with them by telephone or meet them in person. Or, if you would rather, we will select a family for you. It is entirely your decision. Working with us gives you options for your baby’s future.

You may contact us at Kirsh & Kirsh without cost or obligation on your part. Birth mothers NEVER pay a fee to Kirsh & Kirsh. See what we have to offer before making the most important decision of your life. You can call, text and or email us anytime. We answer our office phone, 317-575-5555, 24/7/365. We also promptly respond to text messages at 317-721-2030 and email at AdoptionSupport@kirsh.com. We try to respond to emails and text messages within minutes of receipt.

Birthmother

Time For Every Season

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven . . . .”

For years at Adoption Attorneys Kirsh & Kirsh, P.C. (“Kirsh & Kirsh”), we have told our prospective adoptive parent clients to have faith that when “their” baby comes along, the baby will find his or her way into their hearts and homes. Likewise, we have assured birth mothers that when the “right” family comes along, the birth mother will just know.

Recently, at Kirsh & Kirsh, an adoptive mom came to visit with her beautiful and joyful 3-year-old daughter, who found her way into their family’s hearts and homes by what can only be described as divine intervention. About 3 years ago, a hospital social worker contacted us (we love hospital social workers!) and asked if we could find a family for a newborn, Chinese girl, with Down Syndrome and other medical complications.

Through our national networking efforts, we found the perfect family for our baby – wonderful family who had had previously adopted a Chinese, baby girl with Down Syndrome and other medical complications. Their previously adopted daughter thrived with the love and attention of the adoptive family. Furthermore, the prospective adoptive parents embraced the then current birth mother’s desire for openness in the adoption. After reading the family’s profile, the birth parents talked with the prospective adoptive parents by telephone and then met them in person.

As difficult as the decision was for them, the birth parents LOVED the adoptive parents and knew that the adoptive parents could provide the life, future, and opportunities they desperately want for their daughter. The birth mother and father both had full time jobs, and the birth mother also attended college full time. They loved their newly born daughter dearly, and as much as their hearts were telling them otherwise, they knew that they simply did not have the resources to provide for her in the way she would need. They wanted more for her than they could give, and in the most selfless act of love, put her needs before their own. The adoptive mom, her husband, and other children adore the newest edition to their family and could not appreciate more the loving sacrifice the birth mother and father made for their daughter and them.

We, Adoption Attorneys Kirsh & Kirsh, P.C., have handled more than 3500 successful adoptions over the last 35+ years. You can call, text and or email us anytime. We answer our office phone, 317-575-5555, 24/7/365. We also promptly respond to text messages at 317-721-2030 and email at AdoptionSupport@kirsh.com. We try to respond to emails and text messages within minutes of receipt.