Emotional Support and Counseling for Birth Mothers in Indiana – You Do Not Have to Go Through This Alone

By: Grant Kirsh

Thinking about how to give up a baby for adoption is not just a legal process. It is one of the most emotional experiences a person can go through. And yet, when women search for information about putting a baby up for adoption, most of what they find is about paperwork and steps — not about the emotional side of it.

At Kirsh & Kirsh, P.C., we think that needs to change. We are a family-run Indiana adoption law firm that has been walking alongside birth mothers for nearly 50 years — not just through the legal parts, but through the hard emotional ones too. Here is what we want you to know about the support that is available to you.

You Are Entitled to Counseling

In Indiana, birth mothers are entitled to counseling as part of the adoption process. This is not optional or extra, it is a core part of what good adoption care looks like. The cost of counseling is typically covered through the financial assistance provided by the adoptive family, which means it does not cost you anything.

Counseling should be available to you before placement, as you work through your decision, and after placement, as you process what you have been through. If emotional support is not being offered to you, ask for it. A reputable adoption law firm or adoption agency will make sure you get it.

What Does Counseling Look Like?

Adoption counseling is not about being told what to do. It is about having a safe space to talk through your feelings, your fears, your grief, your hopes, your doubts — with someone who understands what you are going through and is not trying to steer you in any particular direction.

A good adoption counselor will help you:

• Process the emotions that come with an unplanned pregnancy
• Think through your options clearly and without pressure
• Prepare emotionally for the hospital stay and placement
• Cope with grief and loss after placement
• Navigate the ongoing emotional experience of open adoption
• Help you focus on the reasons why you are considering adoption

We want you to make a well reasoned decision for you and your baby, not an emotional decision.

What If I Do Not Have Support From Family or Friends?

Not every birth mother has people around her who understand or support what she is going through. Some women face judgment or pressure from the people closest to them. Some feel completely alone in this decision. That is an awful feeling. No one should feel alone like that. The Kirsh family has strived to not only help women with their adoption plans in Indiana, but to also help them feel like they are part of the family.

If that is where you are, we want you to know that you are not actually alone. At Kirsh & Kirsh, P.C., we have worked with birth mothers from Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Evansville, South Bend, Carmel, Fishers, Bloomington, Hammond, Gary, Muncie, Lafayette, Terre Haute, Kokomo, Anderson, and Greenwood, and from small towns and rural communities across Indiana, who had no one in their corner. We became their support system, and we are glad we did.

Grief Is Part of This – and That Is Okay

We will not pretend this is easy. Placing your baby for adoption is a loss, and losses deserve to be grieved. Many birth mothers describe a period of deep sadness after placement, a kind of ache that does not have a clean ending.

That grief is not a sign that you made the wrong choice. It is a sign that you loved your baby. And over time, especially in open adoptions where birth mothers can see their child growing up loved and safe, that grief often becomes something that can be held alongside genuine peace.

The Support Does Not End at Placement

Good adoption support does not stop when the baby goes home with the adoptive family. At Kirsh & Kirsh, P.C., we care about what happens to you after placement too. We can help connect you with counseling resources, support groups, and other birth mothers who have walked this road.

Our services are 100% free to you. You will never pay us anything.

Call or text us at 800-333-5736. Visit us at IndianaAdoption.com. We are here for all of it.

About the Author
Grant Kirsh is a second-generation adoption attorney and owner of Kirsh & Kirsh, P.C., a family law firm in Indianapolis, Indiana that has been serving Indiana families since 1981. Grant graduated from Indiana University McKinney School of Law in 2013 and has personally handled nearly 3,000 foster care adoptions and his law firm has handled over 5,000 private newborn adoptions. He practices all forms of domestic adoption, with a deep personal commitment to expectant mothers considering adoption in Indiana and Indiana’s foster care system and the families and children it serves.