Terminating an unplanned pregnancy with an abortion can lead to mental and emotional trauma, with both immediate and long-term effects.
If you’re trying to avoid the negative mental health impacts of abortion, making an adoption plan may be a good option for you.
Placing your child for adoption can be an emotionally difficult decision. However, the modern adoption process has many benefits that allow the birth mother to have decision-making freedom.
Mental Health Impacts of Abortion
Before choosing to terminate your pregnancy, know that having an abortion can cause long-term mental health effects.
While many women expect to experience feelings of sadness and grief, a study found in the National Library of Medicine states that women may develop the following mental health issues:
- Major depression
- PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder)
- Anxiety
- Suicidal Behaviors
- Nervous disorders
- Sleep disturbance
- Substance abuse
Although some women may not feel that their mental health was affected immediately following their abortion, studies have shown that mental health issues may develop years later as a result of an abortion earlier in life.
Modern Adoption
Although choosing to place your child for adoption can be a tough decision, the adoption process today can be a positive and rewarding experience for the birth mother.
Modern adoption not only allows the mother to choose the adoptive family but also gives the birth mother the freedom to choose the level of involvement she wants to have in her child’s life.
The three main types of adoptions:
- Open Adoption: You can choose the family you want to adopt your baby and keep in contact with them. You can decide how involved you want to be in the baby’s life together.
- Semi-open Adoption: You can still have contact with the baby, but a professional adoption agency will help manage communication between you, the baby, and the adoptive family, keeping your identifying information confidential.
- Closed Adoption: You won’t have contact with the baby, and all parties’ identities are kept confidential. The court keeps adoption records sealed.
While choosing an abortion is final, adoption allows you to have contact with your child if that is something that you desire. Seeing how your child is doing and receiving updates can give you with the peace of mind you need.
Regardless of the type of adoption you choose, you can feel reassured that your child is in a loving family and you’ll still have full autonomy in your life.
Find Out More
Maybe you’re not sure if adoption is right for you. At Life Center, we are here to support you and answer all of your questions.
We can provide you with a free lab-quality pregnancy test and can refer you for an ultrasound scan to get more details about your pregnancy.
Contact us today to get the help you deserve.