The first week of parenting a newborn baby is a bizarre mixture of excitement, stress, and sheer exhaustion for most parents, whether biological or adoptive. While many aspects of the first week are the same for all new parents, there are some differences when a baby joins your family through adoption. This series is to discuss those differences.
One big difference is that, in many states, you will not yet know if this baby will be your forever child. In many states, even though a placing mother has signed relinquishment papers to terminate her parental rights voluntarily, her parental rights will not legally terminate for a specified number of days or weeks. While some placing mothers will choose to place the baby into a foster home through the agency until the parental rights terminate, many will choose to place the baby directly into an adoptive home. If you agree to a direct placement, then you will parent a newborn baby who may or may not become your forever baby.
Not being the legal parent while having physical custody during the first week of a baby’s life has legal, emotional, and practical ramifications that you might not have considered. This series explores these issues and provides practical guidance for navigating them. This series also provides guidance for interacting with the placing mother during this very emotional time in her life.
Here is a Top Ten List of the things you need to know before parenting an adopted newborn during his first week of life:
- Provide the baby with lots of time to rest.
- Coordinate consistent feedings.
- Prepare yourself for limited hospital information.
- Anticipate sleep difficulties.
- Work out health insurance issues.
- Protect the baby during travel.
- Prepare for lots of contact with the adoption agency.
- Help the baby bond with you.
- Write letters to the placing mother.
- Prepare for emotional stress while the adoption could still fail.
The next ten posts will discuss each item in this Top Ten List.
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