Single Mother Adoption an Alternative to Artificial Insemination for Single Mothers by Choice

Adoptions by Single Mothers for Special Needs Children Save Lives

Single mother adoption is often contemplated by the unmarried woman who is choosing to be a single mother by choice.  But visions of newborn babies don’t go through every mother’s head. A single mother adoption is a powerful alternative to single mother pregnancy and artificial insemination that can turn an innocent life gone wrong into a beautiful life gone right.

Single mother adoption can save a child.  Being a single mother has many advantages. Few parents willingly turn their children over to adoption, but there is a critically unmet need in adopting special needs children, and a single mother adoption can meet that need.   Single mothers weren’t even legally able to adopt until 1968 when the Child Welfare League declared a child could be adopted by a single parent only “if the child would otherwise not be adopted.” Today, discrimination is largely banned, and a single mother adoption is common. There are even services for a disabled single mother to adopt.

Single Mother Adoption and the Special Need Child up for Adoption

From 1996 single mother adoption grew from 20.8% to 31.5% in 2000, and special needs children were most often adopted through a singe mother adoption.  In 2005 over 100,000 children were still in foster homes awaiting adoption.  

Not all special needs children are disabled.  If an adoptive child has an emotional need, (likely from being in foster care), the adoptive child is considered special need.  If the adoptive child is below grade level, has an allergy or facial scars from birth, they are considered special need.  Any child over eight is a special need adoption, and any African American child over two is a special need adoption.  A single mother adoption is a perfect solution for adoptive children who have been abused by a male figure.  (However, significant consideration must be given to the effects of single mother dating.)

A single woman considering a single mother adoption should not dismiss the idea of single mother adoption of a special needs child because of the implications of “special need.” Special need merely means it is not the traditional newborn baby wrapped in swaddling clothing waiting for a home. Single mothers themselves are not traditional, and as any experienced mother knows, there are advantages to bypassing baby bottles, diapers, and even the terrible twos.

What a Single Mother Adoption Does for a Child when Adopting a Special Needs Child

A child who remains in foster and is then emancipated is more likely to grow up being a pregnant teenager, homeless, incarcerated, and addicted to substances.  Adopting these children before the age of emancipation significantly reduces the chances of these outcomes. The North American Council on Adopted Children (NACAC) reports many studies that show a child adopted from foster care will be far more likely to complete high school and college and have adequate income to support themselves.  A child adopted from foster care is less likely to be incarcerated, homeless, a drug abuser, or have a teen pregnancy.  A single mother adoption saves a child from the streets.

Although most adoptive parents are older and have higher incomes, there are single mother subsides for adoption of a special needs child for adoptive parents, including adoption subsidies and childcare subsidies to help care for the children and pay adoption legal fees.  Single mother adoptions can be more affordable than single mother artificial insemination.   There are many single mother support groups and single mother programs that can assist the mother with her journey to a single mother adoption.

Single mother adoption is a gift to a child, the state, and the world.  Eight percent of the sons and daughters of America live in homes with their adoptive parents, and 17% of those are with a single mother through a single mother adoption. Single mother adoption is the key to helping children with special needs turn their lives filled with turmoil into lives filled with love.