Positive Outcomes for Unintended Pregnancy
Programs: The Need for Education
A lack of current information
Many people do not understand how adoption works in the US today, partly because it has changed so much in the last 30 years. Open adoption is now the norm across the country. Many States are working on getting post-adoption contact agreements (PACAs) in place and court-enforceable.
It’s a massive change from the “old days” of traumatic, secretive, closed adoptions.
Misconceptions about modern adoption
Many people confuse voluntary infant placement with foster care. Making a truly voluntary, informed adoption plan is entirely different from having your children removed and placed in foster care. In today’s open adoption, the birth parents choose the adoptive parents; it’s their decision.
Social pressures to parent
Crisis pregnancy centers and women’s health clinics often don’t know enough about adoption to bring up the topic confidently. While most people in general society do view adoption favorably, actually placing a baby in an adoptive family is an entirely different narrative. It’s an uncomfortable conversation, mostly about shame, embarrassment, and timing.
All of this contributes to the still-prevalent stigmas against it.