Need help now?
If you are pregnant, parenting, overwhelmed, or considering adoption, you can talk to someone now. No pressure. No judgment. A next step is enough.
You are safe here
Good Shepherd’s team is here to support you as you explore your options of parenting your child or making an adoption plan. You do not have to decide everything today. Our role is to empower you to make the right decisions for you and your baby.
That support can include practical resources, parenting help, temporary shelter, adoption planning, and simply talking through what comes next with someone compassionate.
How we help
Community-based services for pregnant women, including pregnancy testing, crisis counseling, referrals to community resources, screening for Pregnancy & Parenting Support, and diapers from the St. Louis Diaper Bank at The HUB.
Contact: 314-560-6703 or referrals@gsstl.org
Pregnancy and Parenting Support works with pregnant women in crisis to provide counseling, resources, and concrete aid aimed at healthy infants and healthy families.
Good Shepherd provides shelter and support for pregnant and/or parenting young women, including daily groups, therapy support, life-skills teaching, and a safe routine.
An adoption specialist can walk alongside you through every stage of the adoption process. You will be supported no matter what you decide.
Considering adoption
Unplanned pregnancy? You’re not alone. It can be hard to consider becoming a mother when you weren’t planning on it now. As you explore your options, Good Shepherd can help you move toward the best decision for you and your child.
We invite you to consider your options and learn more about open adoption today. No coercion. The decision is yours.
You may think adoption means giving up your child or having your child taken away. Good Shepherd’s role is to offer honest, hopeful information and compassionate support so you can make a fully informed plan.
Moving from shame to hope
For many years, birth moms were often made to feel shame or secrecy. Today, adoption planning can be honest, hopeful, and centered on dignity, connection, and choice.
Source section references BraveLove and the existing Good Shepherd video story resource.
Talk with someone
Reach out below. A compassionate specialist can talk through your situation, your questions, and your options — whether you are looking for parenting support, shelter, adoption information, or simply a safe first conversation.
No pressure. You can ask questions without committing to any decision.
Confidential and compassionate. A Good Shepherd team member will follow up with care.
If you need immediate help, call or text 314-724-8417.
Your message is private, and a Good Shepherd team member will follow up with care.
What the process can look like
Each adoption plan is unique and customized to fit you. Good Shepherd helps you ask questions, understand choices, and make a plan that fits your situation.
Speak with one of our compassionate specialists to get started. Together, you can discuss your options and a potential adoption plan.
Choose the type of adoption plan that suits you. Good Shepherd can help with paperwork, documentation, and support throughout pregnancy.
Depending on the plan you choose, you may have the option to select adoptive parents whose profile aligns with your hopes and preferences.
Types of adoption
Birthparents choose the prospective adoptive parents. There is full disclosure of identifying information, and all parties may establish the level of relationship most comfortable for everyone.
Birthparents may choose the prospective adoptive parents while last names, addresses, and identifying information remain confidential. Letters and pictures are generally shared through the agency.
The agency selects adoptive parents on behalf of the birthparents. Direct contact and identifying information remain confidential. Closed adoption is available if requested.
Support continues through pregnancy, hospital planning, placement questions, and after-care.
Medical care and placement
Depending on your situation, you may be eligible for financial assistance for expenses related to pregnancy and birth. Your specialist can help talk through delivery, medical care, hospital preferences, placement, and what support may look like before and after birth.
You can talk through those details one step at a time with someone who understands the process.
Questions
It is another way of saying to place a child for adoption, usually with help from an agency caseworker. Caseworkers help expectant parents navigate family choice, the birth father’s role, legal terminology and paperwork, delivery planning, openness agreements, and post-placement support.
Closed adoption means there is no contact or identifying information shared. Open and semi-open adoption generally involve more communication, with semi-open often facilitated through an agency. Think about what you want for the foreseeable future and talk it through with your caseworker.
Every situation is different. It is recommended to make a plan with your caseworker before giving birth so your hopes for contact can be discussed with the prospective adoptive family. Plans can change and adapt over time.
Your caseworker can present profiles of prospective adoptive parents. You can consider values, lifestyle, connection, and questions that matter to you. Until your decision is final, you have the right to change that decision.
When an expectant mother voluntarily makes an adoption plan, she can choose the adoptive family and the kind of ongoing relationship she wants. Foster care is different: the adoption plan is not voluntary in the same way, and children may have multiple foster families.
The hospital stay is unique and special. Some birthparents invite adoptive parents into that time; others keep that time solely with their child. This should be discussed with your caseworker and adoptive parents ahead of time.
The relationship between birth parent and adoptive parent should be a partnership. Open dialogue with your caseworker and/or adoptive parents helps support a healthy relationship moving forward.
Being a birth mother is one role you may play, but it is not the only thing. You may also be a student, wife, sister, friend, or daughter. Support can help you heal and move forward with good mental health and an open heart.
This is your story and your choice. Not everyone is entitled to know the details of your life. Some people may need to be educated that adoption can be a selfless act of love, and there should be no shame in choosing adoption.
Yes. Good Shepherd and BraveLove can help connect you with other birth moms. Talk with your caseworker if you want to connect locally, or explore BraveLove’s resources for birth moms.
If you want to keep learning, these BraveLove resources may also be helpful: open adoption stories, No Shame videos, and Just for Birth Moms.
You do not have to walk alone
Call or text us any time at 314-724-8417.
