Related Links:

Pregnancy Centers AdoptionAgencies.Org
Adoption Network
Caring Adoptions
Adoption.org
About Adoption
Adoption Book Catalog Christian Adoption
Birthmother.com
Five Myths and Realities

Personal Stories:

Brooke's Story
Birthmom to James
Gina's Story
They Chose Adoption
Adoptee Life
Voices of Adoption
Goodbye Kristen

Defining a Birthmother:

I did a presentation for a high school child development class a while back and I was astonished that several girls felt that it was more selfish to give a child up for adoption than to have an abortion. I took a closer look at the issue and found that the view those girls had is not all that uncommon. It seems that birthmothers have gotten a bad name. In fact, it seems like adoption in general is looked down upon. It's time for that to change. 

What birthmothers are not:

Birthmothers are not heartless, cold, selfish women who don't want their children and thrust them upon other people.

What birthmothers are:

Women who have a stunning self-perception and an incredible love for their child. They know that their child needs a stable, loving home. They also know that because of different factors like poverty, rape, age, drug addiction, no support, etc., that they themselves can not provide that for their child. And they know that there are millions of desperate couples out there who can not have children of their own who are more than willing to provide a loving home.

The idea that a mom would have an abortion over giving her child up for adoption is the idea that this person would rather terminate her child instead of giving her child a life where she would be left out. Why look down on the woman who chose adoption? Why look down on anyone? Adoption is a heart-wrenching sacrifice, not a cop out.

So maybe neither option is the ideal - both leave the child without their birthparents. But teenage pregnancy is not the ideal. Nothing is the ideal, for that matter. But we all do the best we can to make the best choices we can at the time. There are a lot of people who are very happily adopted and very loved and very glad things worked out the way they did. It's a valid, loving option for many women and shouldn't be dismissed out of hand. After all, would we have Wendy's without having had Dave Thomas? Seriously, the contributions of people who happened to be adopted are numerous. I know I'm glad it's an option.