leslie@oddjob.UChicago.UUCP (Leslie Travis) (05/16/84)
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Reading the network news, I came across an item in the abortion category
which disturbed me because it is simply not true. One of the many people
who wrote in that category expressed a concern about what might happen to a
child if it was put up for adoption; the implication was that children are
are being left homeless of being placed into bad situations.
For a woman who is pregnant and does not want to abort the child and also
does not want to keep the child, but is, at the same time, worried about
what will happen to the child, there are several different types of options.
1. Most reputable adoption agencies will let a birth mother describe the
type of family that she wants her child to go to. Some agencies will even
let a birth mother choose among their list of families who want children.
In the Chicago area, one reputable adoption agency is:
Central Baptist Child and Family Services
201 North Wells Street
Chicago, Illinois
312-782-0874
Diane Scruggs, director
Often an adoption agency will take care of any medical expenses which occur
as a result of the pregnancy and birth.
2. There are a number of pro-life groups which actually try to help a family
decide what to do with a child if they are unable to keep it. These groups
will help a couple or a woman decide whether it is more appropriate in their
case to work through an adotion agency or a private lawyer, and they will
provide help in selecting an agency or lawyer that will best fit the
family's needs. In the Chicago area, three such groups are:
University of Chicago Pro-Life
c/o Chris Hodgkins
5470 S. Hyde Park #15
Chicago, Illinois 60615
312-324-6219
Hyde Park - Kenwood Pregnancy Counseling
c/o Jennifer Hatch
1332 East 56th Street
Chicago, Illinois 60637
312-962-6640
St. Thomas Pro-Life
c/o Barbara Plampkin
5485 South Woodlawn
Chicago, Illinois 60615
312-363-3644
3. There are lawyers who will arrange private adoptions. The news has
recently been full of very frightening stories about baby buying and
selling, child abuse, and other horrifying items, but there are lawyers who
will place children with good families who have not paid for the lawyer to
go out and find the child. One of the advantages of working through such a
lawyer is that a woman or family can actually choose and even meet the
future parents of the child. It is legal for a lawyer to arrange to pay
medical expenses to the birth mother. In Chicago, the lawyer with the best
reputation for handling private adoptions is also the lawyer who handles
much of the legal work for many of the adoption agencies in the city:
Nicholas Stevenson
312-236-7080
Mr. Stevenson would be in a position to give advise about whether it would
be easier to work with a lawyer or with an agency, or with a pro-life group.
He has had a great deal of experience in working with all of the adoption
agencies in the city, and could help to make a decision about which agency
would best suit the needs of the birth parents.
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