What Financial Help Is Available When You Give Up Your Baby for Adoption in Indiana?

By: Grant Kirsh

Money is often one of the biggest worries for expectant mothers thinking about how to give up a baby for adoption. You may be dealing with housing costs, medical bills, or just the everyday expense of being pregnant without enough support.

Here is something many women do not know: Indiana adoption law allows adoptive families to help pay for your expenses during your pregnancy. This help is legal, it is regulated, and it is designed to make sure you are not forced into a decision because of financial desperation alone.

At Kirsh & Kirsh, P.C., we have been helping Indiana birth mothers understand what is available to them for nearly 50 years. We are a family-run law firm rooted right here in Indiana, not a national adoption agency, and we believe every woman deserves honest, clear information about the help she can receive.

What Does Indiana Law Allow?

Under Indiana Code § 35-46-1-9, adoptive families may pay up to $4,000 in living expenses on your behalf during your pregnancy. Here is what that can cover:

Housing. Rent, utilities, or temporary housing if you need a safe place to live during your pregnancy. This applies whether you are in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Evansville, South Bend, or a smaller community like Kokomo or Anderson, or anywhere else in Indiana.

Food. Groceries or a monthly stipend to help cover the cost of eating well while you are pregnant.

Maternity clothing. Basic clothing to get you through the pregnancy comfortably.

Other reasonable living expenses. Depending on your situation, other needs may be covered within the $4,000 cap. Your attorney will help you understand what Indiana law allows.

What Is NOT Included in the $4,000 Cap?

Importantly, medical expenses and adoption-related transportation are not included in the $4,000 living expense cap. That means:

Medical costs – prenatal care, labor and delivery, and postnatal care not covered by insurance or Indiana Medicaid, can be paid by the adoptive family separately.

Transportation — gas, rides, and other travel costs related to medical appointments or adoption-related matters, can also be covered outside the cap.

Counseling — emotional support and therapy before and after placement, can also be covered. This is one of the most important and most overlooked forms of support available to you.

What This Help Is Not

It is critical to understand that this assistance is not a payment for your baby. Indiana law prohibits any arrangement that amounts to buying or selling a child. The financial help is for your living and medical needs, nothing more. Any adoption professional who makes you feel otherwise is operating unethically and possibly illegally.

At Kirsh & Kirsh, P.C., we have been doing this for nearly 50 years because we do it the right way.

Does Accepting Help Mean I Have to Go Through With the Adoption?

No. Accepting financial assistance during your pregnancy does not obligate you to place your baby for adoption. You have the right to change your mind at any point before you sign the legal consent, which cannot happen until after your baby is born.

Do I Get My Own Attorney?

At Kirsh & Kirsh, P.C., we were the first adoption professionals in Indiana to require that birth mothers have access to their own independent attorney, someone who represents you and only you. If you want an attorney, the adoptive family is required to pay for it. You never pay a dime.

Whether you are in Carmel, Fishers, Bloomington, Muncie, Lafayette, Terre Haute, Hammond, Gary, or Greenwood, our services are 100% free to you.

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

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.