Frequently Asked Questions
Counseling and all other services provided to you by Bright Futures Adoption Center are free of charge.
Yes. Our counselors are here to help you understand and consider all of your parenting options.
We will assist you in making the decision about whether to parent or make an adoption plan for your child.
Bright Futures Adoption Center will not pressure you in any way to choose adoption. There is no “right” or “wrong” decision; there is only the decision that is best for you and your child given where you are in your life right now.
Yes, you will have the opportunity to select the adoptive family and we are happy to help you with this decision.
The process begins with considering what characteristics might be important to you in choosing parents for your child (race, religion, age, career, education level, have other children, marital status, financial stability etc.), reading profiles of waiting families that have those characteristics, and then choosing the family you would like to get to know better.
Once you have chosen a family to get to know, you will have time to ask questions about the family, speak with the adoptive parents, meet the adoptive parents, and decide if this is a family with whom you would like to make an adoption plan.
The answer to this question depends on your particular situation. Fathers have rights too, and their rights need to be addressed in every adoption.
To be sure that the adoption plan you make is secure for you and your child, it is helpful to have as much information and support from the father as possible.
If you are not comfortable communicating with the father, we will work with him separately to collect information and discuss his involvement in the adoption.
Yes. It is helpful to tell those people in your life who you feel might offer you support as you consider adoption.
Although you may be concerned about how your parents, siblings, extended family or friends might react to the fact that you are considering adoption, they know you best and can probably offer you the best support.
You may also wish to tell your doctor, counselor or someone else who you rely on for impartial advice.
If you do choose to make an adoption plan for your child, your Bright Futures counselor will help you think about how best to tell the people who are involved with your child (like the pediatrician, daycare etc.).
Yes, in many cases you can make a voluntary adoption plan if your child is in foster care, especially if your child has just recently been placed in foster care and the goal is reunification.
We have an excellent relationship with the Department of Children and Families and will work with your DCF social worker to explain your wishes and help you make an adoption plan.
Yes. Our adoptive families are from a variety of states and are prepared to travel to adopt a child so you will still be able to choose an adoptive family for your child and meet the adoptive family.
If you do not live in Massachusetts, we will arrange for you to work with an adoption agency in your state to obtain whatever services you may need in connection with making an adoption plan for your child.
There is no one reason why a couple or individual chooses to adopt a child. Some adoptive parents have struggled with infertility or the loss of a child.
Others have decided that they want to adopt to support their community, because they were adopted or for other reasons.
In order to place your child with the adoptive parents you have selected, you will need to surrender your right to parent your child.
This means that you will be asked to sign a “consent” or “surrender” that says that you wish to surrender your child to the care and custody of Bright Futures Adoption Center for the purpose of adoption.
In Massachusetts, the “consent” or “surrender” cannot be signed until at least the fourth day after a child is born and since your child is already here, you may sign any time that you feel ready to do so.
The “consent” or “surrender” is permanent and irrevocable upon signing. This means that once you sign the “consent” or “surrender” you may not change your mind and decide to parent your child.
When you sign the “consent” or “surrender” you will sign it in front of witnesses and a notary public who will confirm with you that you are signing voluntarily and that no one has forced you to sign.
If you live in another state, the rules about when a “consent” or “surrender” can be signed, what the “consent” or “surrender” might say and whether you have a right to change your mind after you sign the “consent” or “surrender” will be different.
Bright Futures Adoption Center will work with you to be sure that you have an attorney or agency in the state where you live to help you understand the process and result of a voluntary surrender in your state.
When you have selected the adoptive parents you wish to work with, we will work with you and with the adoptive parents to determine what kind of ongoing contact you would like to have with the adoptive family and with your child.
You may wish to stay in contact by telephone, text, email, letters and pictures, visits or some combination. How much contact you have will depend on where you live, what type of relationship you have and whether you trust one another.
At Bright Futures Adoption Center it is one of our goals to help birth and adoptive parents get to know and respect one another. For some families, it takes longer to gain respect and trust for one another.
Some birth parents and adoptive parents really hit it off and enjoy one anothers company right away. They are likely to have more frequent and more face-to-face contact.
Some birth parents and adoptive parents feel they need to take time to get to know one another and establish trust before they have any significant contact.
These families may start off with less contact (letters, occasional phone calls/texts, emails) and gradually move to more frequent and trusting contact (regular phone/text contact, visits).