National Adoption Month: Honoring the Courage and Lifelong Support for Birth Parents

david — Mon, 10 Nov 2025 18:58:28 +0000

November is a time to celebrate the beauty of adoption, yet birth parents, often the most courageous part of the adoption story, are frequently overlooked.

At Lutheran Family and Children’s Services (LFCS), we are dedicating National Adoption Month to raising awareness of the free, confidential counseling and lifelong support we provide to honor and care for those who make the selfless decision to place their child for adoption.

Melani Engel

Director of Adoption Services for LFCS

The True Meaning of Courage and Love

Choosing adoption is one of the most profound and loving decisions a parent can make. It’s a choice made from love and the desire to give a child their best possible future.

“For birth parents, the adoption journey is an act of incredible courage and love,” said Melani Engel, Director of Adoption Services for LFCS. “It’s a decision rooted in deep care for their child’s future, and our mission is to support them before, during, and long after placement.” This perspective reframes the adoption experience. It turns a narrative of loss into one of empowerment and strength.

Modern Adoption: Embracing Openness and Partnership

Adoption has evolved. Today, most adoptions include ongoing relationships between birth and adoptive families, reflecting a more compassionate and connected approach.

According to the National Council for Adoption (NCFA), approximately 95 percent of domestic infant adoptions now include some degree of openness, allowing for continued communication and mutual respect between families.

LFCS’s commitment is strengthened through its partnership with BraveLove, a national nonprofit dedicated to equipping professionals and agencies with resources to better support birth parents.

“Every woman deserves access to the resources and support she needs to make a well-informed decision about her pregnancy and continued care after placement,” said Janelle Basham, Executive Director of BraveLove. “We’re proud to partner with Lutheran Family and Children’s Services in honoring the courage and love shown through adoption, this month and every month.”

Free, Lifelong Support from LFCS

Our commitment extends far beyond the moment of placement. LFCS provides comprehensive, nonjudgmental services for birth parents at every step of their journey:

Free, confidential counseling: A safe, supportive space for women and men considering adoption to explore their options and emotions.
Guidance and education: Clear, step-by-step guidance through the adoption process so parents feel informed and supported.
Post-Placement counseling and support: Ongoing counseling and support groups promote healing and long-term emotional well-being.

To reach more families across Missouri, LFCS is expanding its video library and digital outreach, complementing BraveLove’s powerful stories like:

“We want every birth parent in Missouri to know that they are not alone,” said Engel. “There are compassionate professionals ready to listen, to help them heal and to support their future with dignity and care.”

Ready to Listen and Help.

For more information about Lutheran Family and Children’s Services, including adoption services and support for birth parents, visit https://lfcsmo.org/, call 866-326-LFCS, or email help@lfcs.org.

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Will’s Adoption

beanstalk — Fri, 04 Nov 2016 15:36:21 +0000

Our adoption journey began in 2005, after we attended an LFCS adoption workshop. In time, we made a plan to adopt a baby from China and LFCS provided our home study. But as wait times grew to unprecedented lengths to adopt from China, we were inspired by friends who adopted domestically through LFCS.

Sometime after beginning the domestic adoption process, our social worker told us the exciting news. A set of birth parents had reviewed our album and wanted to meet us in person. Although we had hesitations about openness, education and counseling from LFCS helped us prepare for the interview of a lifetime.

We met our son Will on the day he was born in March 2009. The time we spent in the hospital with his birth mother, Annie, was the start of a wonderful relationship. Now, we stay in frequent contact with Annie and share regular visits at each other’s homes. We treasure our relationship with Annie and look forward to having her in our family’s life as Will grows up. LFCS deserves much of the credit for all of this, not only because of the guidance we received, but also because of the support and counseling it provided to Annie.

Meanwhile, our application plodded forward in China until we were matched with a baby boy in the spring of 2012. We took an amazing trip to China in that summer, to bring our new son Adam home. As with virtually all Chinese adoptions, we know almost nothing about Adam’s background. We do know, however, that he wound up where he belongs. Together with Will and Adam, we are authentically and undeniably a family, complete with all the fun, squabbling, tumult, and love you’d expect.

Through our journey, we’ve been shown that for all the challenges life presents – like infertility, unexpected pregnancy, or the unknowable hardships that put children in orphanages – there also are wonderful possibilities if people can open their hearts and do the work it takes to bring them about. That’s what LFCS does. It meets the challenges and works to fulfill the possibilities. In our case, LFCS has made possible wonderful and amazing things. It’s helped us become parents and our boys become brothers. In the process, we know it’s given peace of mind to at least one birth mother and we hope and pray that, in some way we will never fully know or understand, it’s done the same for another birth mother on the other side of the world.

Throughout our winding journey, LFCS provided invaluable guidance and support. For that, we thank LFCS and the people who support its work.

Will and his birth mother Annie

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