Making Your Decision

Woman Being pregnant before you had planned can be a confusing and frightening experience. You may be overwhelmed by the many feelings you are having about the pregnancy and your future. We’ve helped many women in your situation and we’d like to assist you.

At Catholic Charities’ Pregnancy, Parenting and Adoption Services, we are committed to helping you know and understand your options and choose the option that is best for you. Many women call us just to find out more information or to have someone to talk to about their situation and concerns. Our experienced and caring pregnancy counselors can help you sort out your feelings, consider your options and make a decision to either plan adoption or parent your child. There will be no pressure to influence your decision.

We know that this decision is very difficult and emotional and that there may be many people in your life giving you their opinions about what you should do. We believe that this life-altering decision must be made freely by you and with your child’s best interest in mind. We also feel strongly that you should not finalize your decision when you have doubts. It is not uncommon for clients who plan adoption to have some second thoughts after the baby is born. We offer a short period of Interim Family Care for your baby, if you need it, prior to proceeding with your adoption plan. This gives you time to recover from the delivery and to visit with your baby again, prior to placement, if you wish. Click here to learn more about Interim Family Care.

We’ve worked with many women with unplanned pregnancies and, for those who chose adoption for their child, every one had her own reason for choosing an adoption plan. Below are some of the common reasons:

Some lacked any support in their lives to raise a child (or another child) and felt unready and unable to parent alone
Some knew that they could parent but wanted a more stable two parent family for their child
Some did not feel financially prepared to adequately raise a child (or another child).
Some wished to complete their education or start a career

Waiting Families

We have many families currently approved and waiting to build their families through adoption with Catholic Charities’ Pregnancy Parenting and Adoption Program. Please call or email our counselor at 410-659-4032 (in Maryland) if you would like to learn more about any of these approved families or learn more about our families online.