How to Create a Strong Support System

In fact, having a strong support system over the course of an adoption might be even more important than in other circumstances because of the many emotions and worries that may come with it. Whether you are a Birth Mother who needs encouragement and understanding or an Adoptive Parent needing care and reassurance, your individual situation will require a unique framework of support in order for it to be effective and welcoming to this new change. Either way, the first step towards creating a strong system of support is to define what that means for you and your child.

What Does it Mean to Have a Strong Support System?

Ultimately, a support system is exactly how it sounds. Family, friends, professionals, peers, coworkers, you name it. Support can come from anywhere and in a multitude of forms. Whether it’s simply someone who is willing to listen or a friend who offers to babysit, or a hand to hold or a shoulder to cry on, it’s important.

Raising a child or creating an adoption plan will never be entirely easy, but it shouldn’t have to be painful either. A support system can offer comfort and love and as well as encouragement and affirmation. It’s someone in your life that sees what is needed and can help to provide it.

What Does this Mean if I am Doing this Alone?

There is undeniable wisdom and strength in the people that work through their toughest moments alone and, in speaking of a support system as necessary for both parent and child, we acknowledge that even a family of two can be a strong and beautiful system. Being a single parent might be a preferable route, or the only route in some instances, but that does not mean that it is not uniquely difficult. According to Psych Central with 40 percent of U.S. children are now born to single parents, it is becoming more and more common too.

In the end though, why do it all alone if you don’t have to? Single parents are not alone. Resources are available in friends, family, and professionals. Here, at the Adoption Network Law Center, we work to provide support in any way possible. If you’re a couple seeking to adopt, a Birth Mother in need of financial help, or an unplanned parent seeking advice, there are people who can help. No matter what process you’re entering or moving through, whether it is having a child, adopting a child, or raising a child, there is no such thing as doing it alone. Others have been through your situation and a wanting to help.

How Do I Create a Strong System?

Take a moment to assess your surroundings. Are your relationships stable? Is the support you do have positive? Take everything into account.

What else do you need? What will your child require? Change can be as simple as joining a support group or seeking help from a center. Ask for help when you need it and have people around who will support you even without you having to ask. In the end, the most important thing to remember may be to start with you. Support yourself, love yourself, and take care of yourself. Take the first steps toward creating a strong system of support by building a foundation within you. Know that you are worth it.

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