SALT LAKE CITY —; The president of the United States has proclaimed November as National Adoption Month, and nationwide people are celebrating adoption as a means for building loving families.
LDS Family Services, a nonprofit agency, is making help readily available to birth parents. To give birth parents a way to anonymously learn more about adoption, the agency has created a Web site at www.itsaboutlove.org. There, birth parents can find information about services, read about the experiences of other birth parents, and view agency commercials that offer poignant messages of courage and hope to those deciding whether to place a child for adoption.
"We truly believe where there is help, there is hope" says Fred Riley, commissioner of LDS Family Services. "We are here to provide free counseling, support and information at a critical time as birth parents face one of the most important decisions of their lives and of their unborn child."
Riley says the decision to place a child for adoption, while loving and unselfish, can be difficult to make. A single woman dealing with an unplanned pregnancy needs information and resources to help her decide what will be best for both her and the baby. Many factors, including fear and embarrassment, may make birth parents reluctant to reach out.
That's where a secure, anonymous resource such as www.itsaboutlove.org can help. Birth parents interested in adoption can get to know prospective adoptive parents by viewing online profiles of couples throughout the United States who have been screened and approved to adopt. Birth parents can also e-mail their questions to the agency until they are ready to talk with someone.
"At LDS Family Services," says Stacy, who experienced an unplanned pregnancy, "I had somebody who would just listen to me and help me. I needed that. My counselor helped me to understand that there were ways to solve the problem of being single and pregnant — that there was hope."
For more information or help with an unplanned pregnancy, call 1-800-537-2229, or visit www.itsaboutlove.org for a listing of the 57 domestic and seven international LDS Family Services offices.