I Used Drugs or Alcohol During My Pregnancy. Can I Still Choose Adoption?

By: Grant Kirsh

If you used drugs or alcohol during your pregnancy and you are thinking about how to give up your baby for adoption, you may be carrying two heavy fears. That no family will want your baby. And that if you tell anyone the truth, you will get in trouble or lose control of what happens.

We want to speak to both fears directly, with honesty and zero judgment. At Kirsh & Kirsh, P.C., a family-run Indiana adoption law firm with nearly 50 years of experience, we have helped many mothers in your exact situation.

Yes, Families Will Want Your Baby

Let us settle the first fear. We typically have over 100 carefully screened families waiting to adopt, and among them are families who are fully open to babies with substance exposure. These are families who have educated themselves, who understand what care these babies may need, and who are ready with open arms. Your baby is wanted. That is the truth.

Why Honesty With Us Protects You

Now the second fear. Here is why telling us the truth helps you: hospitals may involve the Indiana Department of Child Services when a newborn shows signs of substance exposure. When there is no plan, DCS involvement can take the decision about your baby’s future out of your hands.

When there is a solid adoption plan in place, everything changes. We know the hospitals, social workers, and doctors across Indiana, and we prepare everyone ahead of time. The hospital sees a mother with a loving plan, a chosen family ready to take the baby home, and an experienced law firm handling the details. That is a completely different picture, and it protects your role as the decision maker. Private adoption keeps your baby out of foster care entirely, going straight from the hospital to the family you chose.

Everything you tell us is confidential. We are not here to judge your past. We are here to protect your plan.

Please Keep Getting Medical Care

Whatever you decide about adoption, please do not avoid prenatal care out of fear. Medical care protects you and your baby. And remember, medical expenses related to your pregnancy can be covered by the adoptive family, outside the $4,000 living expense limit in Indiana Code 35-46-1-9. Counseling will be covered 100% by the adoptive family as well, and if you want help finding treatment or recovery support, we will help you look for it without judgment.

Your Background Helps Your Child’s Doctors

Being honest about substance use also gives your baby’s medical team and adoptive family what they need to care for your child well from day one. Sharing that history is not a confession. It is a gift to your baby.

You Are Not the Sum of Your Hardest Season

Addiction and hard seasons do not erase your love for your child. Choosing a stable, prepared family for your baby while you fight your own battles may be the strongest thing you ever do. Whether you are in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Evansville, South Bend, Carmel, Fishers, Bloomington, Hammond, Gary, Muncie, Lafayette, Terre Haute, Kokomo, Anderson, or Greenwood, call us. We answer 24/7/365, and our services are 100% free to you.

Call or text us at 800-333-5736. Visit us at IndianaAdoption.com. Everything is free and confidential.

For a complete overview of your options, read our guide: Your Options With an Unplanned Pregnancy in Indiana.

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.