This is a very common fear among birth parents. It takes a lot of courage to even to come to the decision to consider placing a baby for adoption. When family, friends or peers start expressing their opinions, it can make the decision even more difficult. The counseling that is available along with an adoption plan will be of great assistance in working with these kind of issues.

A courageous birth mother was asked her feeling about feeling judgment from the people around her. Here is how she responded, “I did feel some pressure from my parents, but it did not in any way affect my choice. I didn’t feel any judgment from anyone, but I knew it was there on many levels from many people, some good and some bad. I did not get any negative judgment to my face simply because I didn’t leave any room for it, but people did judge behind my back. I was very open during my pregnancy about making and having an adoption plan. People would ask what I was going to name him and I would tell them whatever his parents choose for him. I got a lot of weird looks from people, but more out of curiosity rather than judgment. I was actually quite surprised by the amount of people that actually embraced it and how many people had stories of how adoption had touched their lives.”

So the judgment can go two ways; positive or negative. As you start to share your adoption plan with the people around you, you will probably be surprised by how many people have been influenced by adoption, whether it be that they are adopted, know someone who has placed a child for adoption, have family members or friends who have adopted, etc. As you make a plan to place your baby for adoption, prepare yourself by receiving the appropriate counseling. Adoption touches so many lives and by choosing to place, you are becoming an angel to an adoptive family.