Adoption advocate and expert Steve Sunday joins Courtney and Carley and sheds light on the heroic yet heartbreaking decision a birth mother makes to lovingly place her child for adoption. Steve explains basic adoption terminology and statistics, the role between birth parents and adoptive parents and the tender yet painful process of relinquishing rights. Beautiful and personal experiences about adoption are shared in this episode all about finding peace and ethical practices within the adoption arena. This is the second episode in a 5-part series on Motherhood, airing May 2022.
Call to Action:
Learn about adoption and be a voice for adoption as an option within your sphere of influence. (Example: share this podcast episode by copying and pasting the following link with your thoughts about the episode. https://heysisterpodcast.org/29-birth-mothers-adoption-steve-sunday/)
“The biggest challenge that we have is really promoting adoption as an option. It doesn't mean it's the only option, actually, it's the one that's least considered! Learn as much as you can about adoption. There's so much negative about everything out there, including adoption.
…It's really important to counter those voices and say, not all experiences are bad. There are a lot of very wonderful experiences when it's done correctly. And so I would challenge your audience to learn as much as they can, and then be a resource to potential people who may be in that situation and need resources, because most do not hear about the option of adoption and we're hoping that they will! And they have the opportunity, the agency, to choose the course that they would choose in their life, but the best thing we can do is give them the option to hear about it.”
- Steve Sunday, CEO/President and Founder of Forever Bound Adoption
Referenced Information:
National Council for Adoption
(Organization that supports ethical practices for adoption)
Referenced Links:
Connect with Steve Sunday, Founder/CEO of Forever Bound Adoption
Connect with Hey, Sister!
Referenced Episodes:
Episode 28 Scrunchy Mamas (birth story swap)
Show Timeline:
0:00 Introduction of topic, guest expert, and Forever Bound Adoption
6:00 Basics of adoption and terminology: international adoption, foster to adopt and private adoption, closed vs. open adoptions
10:30 Openness is a continuum: building relationships with birth moms, examples of open communication styles, adoptive relationships take work
16:00 Prom dress story: a modern-day open-adoption relationship example
17:45 Birth mothers finding adoption agencies: past vs. present
20:00 Current statistics about unplanned and crisis pregnancies (single parenting and abortion are the most common solutions)
21:15 The importance of word of mouth positivity: sharing messages of hope about adoption
23:00 Adoptions past versus adoption today: offering education for adoptive parents and support for birth parents before and after placement
25:00 Look for agencies that are part of the NCFA
25:30 Distrust: birth parents, agencies and adoptive parents
29:45 Living up to commitments: open adoptions take effort and are best when organic
30:30 Heroic decision of birth mothers and emotions felt during and after placement
34:50 Courtney’s adoption experience: “birthing” a baby arms to arms
38:30 Steve’s post-script birth parent panel experience
40:00 Call to action, contact information, concluding thoughts, outtakes
