I met with a counsellor yesterday to talk about giving up my baby for adoption?

timsdarlyn	the information that they usually need is the family medical history, blood type, all the basic info, but the child might want to know a little bit about his birth parents such as where they come from, family history, why they were given up, and stuff like that. maybe you should consider making a video of you telling your baby about yourself and all so that they'll have something that might answer the questions they have when they get older. it really all depends on what you want the child to know though i guess. around here tho you can meet the parents if you want to if you find a couple that wants a child through private adoption. that works by you finding someone and then they pay all your medical bills and pay for a lawyer and you just have to have the baby in the state they live in. and then you just sign over the child with the lawyer present to make it legal. let me know if you have any questions.

Angela K	I gave my daughter up 4 1/2 years ago. I am from wisconsin and the agency I worked with allowed me to meet the parents before I had her. Unfortunately my water broke the day before I was going to meet them but had I went later I would have gotten to meet them before the baby was born. Maybe you need to research other adoption agencies or something. Also, we had an open adoption and I started out not wanting to know anything about my baby after she was born and I wanted her as far away as possible. My situation changed afterward and I was happy to be able to still see pictures of her and know she was doing well. You don't have to give them any information you don't want to. Also, I don't know why the baby has to go into foster care till the adoption goes through. Here in Wisconsin they can go to the parent's right away. My girl when to a foster home for a day because her parents didn't have everything ready for her yet since she was early. Adoption is a beautiful thing and I respect your decision to give your child to an unfortunate couple who cannot have their own. Good luck with everything.

Lori A	I am a no nonsense person. I am who I am day in, day out. BUT I can be nice to anybody for 30 minutes if they have something I want. Read that again and think about it. There are more and more adoptive parents who understand the importance of contact with first parents so that a child grows up feeling like a whole person, but there is no guarantee that these are the type parents you will get. You should continue contact if you want your child in tact emotionally. As far as supplying as much info as possible, that requires contact over the years. My parents had no medical problems when I surrendered my daughter. Years later diabetic, heart disease, and a host of other small malfunctions cropped up and i had no way of informing them. Opened adoptions are not enforceable yet, you can select what ever you want, you will be at the mercy of the adoptive parents to keep that contact opened. Like I said, there are more and more who understand the importance of contact and some have great relationships with the first parents. THOSE are what every adoption should be like, those are what I hope one day adoptions will all have in common, but for now, you need to understand exactly what CAN happen, and all within the legal limits of the law. What you feel now about visitation, may change down the road, keep the option opened if you can.

kidmindi	I can't help you with the legal side of your question. However, as an adoptee I can tell you what I would have liked to have known about my first mother. Obviously include your family medical history. That's a given. But then tell your child about YOU. Them them what you like, your favorite song, favorite food, favorite time of year ect. Try to give them a little bit of you to cling to when they miss you. Because they will miss you intensely. Having that letter will be their only connecton with you until they are old enough to search and find you. Also if you are allowed to, add a photo of yourself. If you can't leave a picture then describe yourself. Tell your child what color your hair and eyes are and wheather you have dimples or not. Let them know as much as you can about what you look like because they will want to look for some connection to you in their own face.

Cheyenne	Why are you leaving your own child? I can't imagine what a heart do you have to have to leave your child. I'm 15yo, pregnant and I'm not leaving my child for the world!

red elephants	I can't help with the legal side of things but for the letter just include anything you like about yourself. Family medical history (any issues that the family has), where your family is from originally and maybe traditions you hold that stem from it, why you decided to place your child for adoption. you could include some lighter things like your favorite color or foods, favorite holiday and how you like to spend your free time, any siblings of the child or yourself. Maybe the type of work you do, if you are willing to have a reunion in the future, allergies, your moral values, etc. Really anything that would paint a picture of who you are and whats important to you. I hope you are able to come to the right decision for you and your child.

KK	More than likely they will try to find adoptive parents that are already certified to foster and have been waiting for a chance like this.

kitta	What you heard about babies bonding with parents from birth refers to you. You are the parent. Your baby is already bonding with you now, and will be bonded with you. Anyone else is just a stranger, from birth on.... The baby will have to get to know anyone else who raises him or her, if you decide to surrender your baby.

magic pointe shoes	The whole point of not picking the potential adoptive parents out is to protect you and your child. Deciding to relinquish your child for adoption is a serious decision to make and it needs to be made without being influenced by the idea of to whom your child would go. It's essentially deciding that your child doesn't deserve you and thus you are willing to relinquish the right to parent him or her. Australia is very forward thinking when it comes to this.

Rowan	I'll be honest, i think not meeting the prospective parents is a GOOD thing. not knowing them, it will make it easier later on if you change your mind and decide to parent, which is very possible. However, if you really want to meet them, insist on it to your counselor, but limit contact, if you establish it. That way, you don't wind up feeling obligated to give them your child if you change your mind. More then likely, the child will be placed with them immediately after birth, as foster parents until the adoption goes through. Tell them your medical history, any and everything you can think of, such as things tat run in the family(like cancer, Alzheimer's, allergies,etc).

Proud mommy and army wife! ;0	How dare you give up your child, i think you are disgusting and god will punish you!

jentrie2	I don't like the part about not meeting them until baby is born. Sounds icky to me. The foster thing is a bad idea in my book. So the baby bonds with foster parents and gets taken away to have to bond with strangers [adoptive parents] ???! I don't like it at all. I think it's potential for mental troubles in later years, tossed from hand to hand like that. The baby should go directly to adoptive parents. Look at ads in the classifieds. Couples are always advertising to adopt. You get to meet them and make arrangements you both agree on. You get to know their income bracket, etc. It's usually done with an attorney. They pay your expenses and the attorney. It's illegal for them to pay you for the baby. The info they need is family health history. Cancer, heart troubles, stroke, diabetes, etc.