Infant Adoption
children's connections
Connecting Hearts Infant Adoption
Children’s Connections is a licensed child-placing agency in Texas. We work with Texas expecting or post-partum mothers, and sometimes fathers, to place their infant with loving adoptive parents in Texas and throughout the US.
We help both birth and adoptive families create adoption plans that best meet the needs of the individuals involved.
Openness in Adoption
We encourage openness in adoption since openness leads to more successful outcomes for all parties in the adoption process. However, we understand that some situations and some parents may choose varying levels of openness.
If you are not seeking open adoption, we will provide you with training and educational resources so you’ll be able to learn the future benefits of openness for your baby.
We work with parents who prefer all levels of openness, but only work with closed adoptions when:
- Both the birth parents and the adoptive parents are in agreement on the level of openness
- Both families agree that either party may request a change in openness at any time before the child becomes age 18
- Adoptive parents agree to allow completely open communication between both parties in the future if requested by their child’s first mother or father.
While Texas open adoption plans are a moral agreement, rather than a legally enforceable one, this commitment by adoptive parents helps you be able to change your mind about communicating with them later.
Frequently Asked Questions About Openness
Openness in adoption is an agreement between the adoptive and birth families and is on a continuum from closed to open. Openness in adoption is not co-parenting or confusing for the child. Adoptive parents aren’t baby-sitting. Instead, open adoption allows some level of contact between the birth and adoptive families throughout the child’s life. This helps the child not to feel abandoned or rejected.
The benefits include:
- The adoptive family will have on-going access to the child’s health history, as it changes over the years,
- The birth parent(s) can see her child growing, developing and being healthy and happy in their adoptive home, which helps with processing feelings of grief,
- The child can gain a relationship with the child’s birth parents and be able to hear from them why they made an adoption plan, reducing the child’s feelings of loss.
Open adoption is beneficial to all parts of the adoption triad, the adoptive family, birth parents and child.
Most birth parents want some level of openness, but the amount of desired contact varies. We help birth and adoptive families negotiate and come to an agreement about the level of openness in the adoption. This level of openness is based on trust and appreciation of both the birth and adoptive parent roles.
We are happy to discuss openness planning and to help you understand why this is so much better for your child and yourself, as your child is growing up.
Financial Support
Based upon a needs assessment, financial assistance is provided to the birth mother during pregnancy & while she receives post-partum care. When birth parents make an adoption plan, certain expenses, such as medical expenses (other than those paid by Medicaid & insurance), legal fees, reasonable & necessary living expenses & miscellaneous pregnancy-related expenses, are paid by adoptive parents through CCI.
This assistance includes:
- Housing
- Necessary utilities, such as electric, water &/or telephone bills
- Food for the birth mother & minor children living in the home
- Transportation expenses necessary to support the pregnancy
- Medical costs (other than those paid by Medicaid & insurance)
- Legal costs
- Counseling services
- Child care while a birth mother is in the hospital for delivery
- Clothing
- Household supplies
- Personal hygiene or grooming items
In accordance with Texas law, Children’s Connections, Inc. (CCI) in no way persuades a birth parent to make a decision to relinquish their parental rights by offering any incentives. It is illegal for a birth parent to obtain financial benefits from prospective adoptive parents for the payment of hospital or medical expenses or any other financial benefits with the intent to receive the benefits and not complete the adoption. This action is punishable to the full extent of the law. In Texas, it is illegal for adoptive parents to give birth parents’ money, pay for anything for the birth parents or provide them with resources of any value.
Placement
In most cases, adoptive parents will receive the newborn child from the hospital. Placement of the child into your care occurs after the baby’s parents sign relinquishment document, CC staff has provided all written documents to you, and you have signed the appropriate forms & agreement.
Post-Placement
During the post placement period, CC will ensure the adoptive placement continues to meet the child’s needs through routine visits & telephone contacts. CC will maintain responsibility or managing conservator of the child until the court signs the adoption decree (approximately 6 months after placement). Following the adoptive placement & after the adoption is finalized, CC will provide adoptive children & adoptive parents with counseling services or referrals for counseling services with an outside agency.