Alabama
Resources to Help Birth Mothers

Dear Alabama Birth Mother,

What you are about to read is the largest, and I believe the best, source of information ever created to help birth mothers in the state of Alabama.

I became involved in helping pregnant women and young mothers over 40 years ago when I was a psychologist at the University of Pittsburgh and was working in the Pittsburgh city schools.  I found my heart strings pulled time after time when I met one young woman after another who had an unplanned pregnancy and felt she had no where to go and no one to turn to for help. In fact, many of them felt ashamed and confused and came to me for help, rather than talk to their own family.

The young women's cries for help changed my life as well as theirs.  As a result of trying to help the women, I opened a non-profit adoption agency, Adoption Services, with the goal of helping not just the birth mothers who decide to place their child for adoption, but also those birth mothers who make the decision to keep and parent their child.

What you are about to read is the result of 40 years of training, experience, research, heart ache and hard work, put together here to help you - free of charge.  I have included information on medical care for you and your child, support groups, government programs offering financial assistance, information on how to make the best decisions for you and your child should you place your child for adoption, and much, much more. No matter what you ultimately decide to do, this information can help both you and your child have a better, safer and happier life.

Good luck, and let me know if I can help you personally. 

Dr. Vince Berger
AdoptionServices.org

Adoption Services is licensed non-profit adoption agency able to help birth mothers living in Alabama or any other state within the USA with a full array of adoption services. We are even able to help U.S. birth mothers who are living in a foreign country.

Our resources for pregnant women begin with support groups and medical assistance information, and include everything from health and nutrition to drugs and alcohol.  We also offer information on labor and delivery, morning sickness, depression, prenatal care, a pregnancy calendar, as well information on selecting a hospital plus a list of crisis centers available throughout the U.S. and Canada.  You can also contact the child welfare agency in Alabama.

Great News!  We have now created the single largest source of information on the Internet to assist pregnant women.  Everything you need to understand pregnancy and how to care for your child, plus financial, medical and emotional help resources are now all in one place to help make life easier for you.  Please visit our new site to assist pregnant women at:

PregnancyAndChildren.com

Our websites (BirthMotherResources.com, AdoptionServices.org and PregnancyAndChildren.com) are designed to help you whether you are pregnant or have already given birth to a child. These sites can help you find financial, medical and even emotional assistance whether you are planning to raise your child yourself or are thinking about placing your child for adoption.

Our websites can also help you find financial and other types of assistance for pregnant women, as well as unplanned pregnancy resources.  We have also included resources on the Alabama WIC program as well as the overall government WIC program (women, infants and children), infant safe haven laws, shelters for pregnant women, and help with domestic violence.

Government Resources A-Z gives you a comprehensive list of hundreds of federal agencies and departments.  Government Benefits and Services lists a multitude of U.S. federal government benefit programs available to pregnant women, birth mothers, and birth fathers. If you want help understanding the adoption laws, regulations, and procedures of your state or of any state, visit our Child Adoption Laws site or contact the local child welfare agency for Alabama .

Parenting a child can be a wonderful experience. At the same time it can be challenging financially, physically and emotionally. Planning for an adoption is one of the options of every birth mother and birth father.  These following resources are for those of you who are seeking help and ideas for raising your child. The resources include support groups for birth mothers, information to help birth fathers  to be the best fathers they can be, information on child development from ages 0-21, child/infant health information and advice on baby care, and breast feeding tips.  We have also included resources on the Alabama WIC program.

If you are considering placing your child for adoption, the resources below will help you in making the right choices for you and your child. They include:

Where to start and how to get started give a valuable overview of the adoption process and information about adoption alternatives.

Many people are not aware that there are many types of adoption and that the choices you make can affect you and your child. For instance, there is agency adoption or private adoption, and open adoption or closed adoption. These choices can have a big impact on the lives of you and your child and we recommend you read the following resources and understand them fully.

An agency adoption is the safest type of adoption for a birth mother and her child. An "agency adoption" is arranged through an adoption agency that is licensed and monitored.  Private adoption, on the other hand, can be much more risky than an agency adoption, and is arranged through a private individual, often a lawyer, physician, non-licensed facilitator, or referral service.

A closed adoption  is an adoption in which you, the birth mother, and the family interested in adoption do not know each other's last names or other specific identifying information. An open adoption is an adoption where the birth mother, birth father, and the family interested in adoption exchange identifying information and are then able, if they so choose, to be in direct contact with one another.

Using an adoption facilitator is one type of private adoption that needs special warning. Adoption facilitators have become such an important area of concern that even the U.S. government has stepped in and has warned both birth mothers and adopting families to work with an adoption agency and avoid adoption facilitators.

Selecting the right agency is an important early step. Agencies come in a variety of forms. They can be for-profit or non-profit, public or private and domestic or international. But the most important fact to remember is that agencies are licensed to give you options and protections that are not available when you deal directly with an adoption facilitator, doctor, or attorney.

Placing children with a relative of the birth mother or birth father is a special type of adoption that some pregnant women consider.

Support groups are available for pregnant teens as well as adult birth mothers and birth fathers who are thinking about adoption or have already completed a placement.  Click here to see support groups in Alabama and support groups across the USA.

Emotional issues, problems, and concerns frequently increase during and after a pregnancy. This site looks carefully at depression and at other emotional issues that a birth mother and birth father face regarding adoption.

A birth mother's legal rights, just like a birth father's legal rights, are protected in every U.S. state including rights regarding the ending of the birth mother's and the birth father's parental rights.  Your adoption agency, in conjunction with their attorney, should help you with your rights and with the adoption law and adoption procedures.

ChildAdoptionLaws.com is a site we built to help you to learn about your rights and includes the adoption laws of Alabama as well as the child adoption laws for every state.

Infant safe haven laws have been added to many state statutes to help reduce infant abandonment and infanticide.

We also created the websites below in case you need additional information:

Pregnancy And Children
Birth Mother Resources
Child Adoption Laws
AdoptionServices.org

If you need additional information or assistance please please feel free to contact me or my staff.

Dr. Vince Berger
1-800-943-0400