The Commitment to Adopt
by Sara Lively, M.S.Ed.
Before you commit to the challenges of the adoption process and lifelong adoptive parenting, it's important to assess your adoption readiness. Only you (with your partner, if you have one) can decide if adopting at this time is right for you. Consider seriously the following questions.
1. Am I really ready to become a parent, possibly in the near future?
2. Do I feel comfortable with the extent to which I have explored my options to have a child biologically?
3. What have I done to let go of the image or dream of parenting my biological child?
4. Is parenting a higher priority for me than pregnancy or the genetic link to my child?
5. Considering what I have already been through, am I emotionally able to handle the uncertainties and risks of the adoption process?
6. Am I willing to accept the fact that my adopted child will have another set of parents with whom he or she will have an important relationship, whether or not they ever meet?
7. Have my spouse and I resolved any differences between us about our commitment to adopting?
8. Am I willing to spend time and energy on the adoption process. the paperwork, the homestudy, and the search for the child?
9. How do I feel about the lack of anonymity that's inherent in the adoption process and adoptive parenting?
10. Can I honestly say that I'm ready to love as my own a child who was born to someone else?
Copyright 2003 by Sara Lively. All rights reserved.