Maternity Photos and Adoption

The journey of becoming a mother can happen through many different paths. One route is to become pregnant yourself and carry the baby through pregnancy. However, there are many women who are unable to have children of their own for a myriad of reasons. They can choose to have a surrogate mother or go through adoption. No matter how you get there, becoming a mother is an amazing adventure that should be captured through professional maternity photography to cherish and remember for years to come.

A Bit About Adoption

Adoption is a beautiful and admirable thing to do. According to Adoption Network, there are around 428,000 children in foster care in the United States. Of which only 135,000 of those children are being adopted each year. There are so many kids waiting and hoping for a family to love and call their own. If you yourself are unable to have children of your own, adoption is a great option to consider. It may seem like an intimidating and harrowing process; however, it really isn’t. Going through an adoption agency will help guide you through each step of the way. They will be able to help you go through the paperwork and acceptance process. Then find you a suitable match for your adoption.

Adoption Network tells us that about half of families that have gone through the adoption process also have biological children of their own. The other half are unable to have children themselves. According to Women’s Health, infertility is common among Americans. Infertility means not being able to get pregnant after one year of trying, or six months if a woman is 35 years or older. Also, women that are able to get pregnant but are unable to carry full term can possibly be infertile. In the United States, about 10 percent of women ages 15-44 have difficulty getting pregnant or staying pregnant. That’s 6.1 million women who suffer from infertility. Adoption is a great option for your family to have a little one of your own.

Adoption Experience

Many women are disheartened by not being able to carry a baby of their own. They want to go through all the steps and experience the pregnancy firsthand. If you’re adopting, there are still ways to be involved each step of the way. Depending on the terms of the adoption and the birth mother’s desires, there are varying levels of involvement. According to Adoption Networks (as referenced above), today 60-70 percent of adoptions are considered open adoptions. An open adoption is when the biological and adoptive parents have varying levels of contact throughout the pregnancy and sometimes even after the adoption as the child grows. Even through a closed adoption, the adoptive parents will get status updates as the pregnancy progresses.

Adoption and Maternity Photography

As stated above, depending on the degree of contact through the adoption process will allow for you to have different milestones for potential photography sessions. Hiring a professional maternity photographer will help relieve the stress from yourself. A professional will have fun creative ideas for your photography session. They will also have great ideas for locations and props to include. If you’re struggling on what to wear, you can consult with your professional maternity photographer for ideas. They’ve got the experience and passion to make sure you have the best session. After all, a picture lasts forever and helps you remember these great moments for years to come. Plus, being able to show your friends, family and children these photos is a fun and connecting experience.

The first opportunity for a photography session is the actual pregnancy announcement. Even though you aren’t carrying the baby yourself, this experience is for you and all about you. If allowed, you could potentially receive copies of the ultrasound pictures. These can be used within your session to showcase a new addition is coming into your family. If you don’t have access to the ultrasound photos, a fun idea is to hold a sign saying something to the effect of “We’re adopting!”. Another cute idea is to hold a globe as your “baby bump”. Adoptions can take place within your home town or even all over the country. Depending on where an available birth mom is, the adoption process could potentially take you to another state.

The next biggest milestone for you to document is the gender reveal! Gender reveal parties have become quite the trend as of late. Friends and family come together for a party and play games, eat food and take votes on what they think the baby’s gender will be. There are many different fun and creative ways to reveal the gender. Some common ones are having a cake made where the inside of the cake is either pink for a girl or blue for a boy. Another one is to use colored smoke bombs to showcase which gender the baby will be. Consult with your professional maternity photographer for some creative ideas if you’re stumped yourself on what to do. They’ll be able to tell you some fun ways that will also make for great pictures. Something like a confetti bomb sounds like a fun way but could be hard for a photographer to capture those specific exact moments.

The next milestone is the biggest and most exciting one. The birth of your baby and you taking that bundle of joy home in your arms is definitely something you will want to capture. There are a few different ways you could document your newborn. One way is to have a session of you meeting your baby for the first time. The reactions and emotions involved are priceless. This could potentially be just a quick little session with a few captures. Another way is the classic newborn photography session. These photos are typically taken when the newborn is between five to fourteen days old. However, some adoptions can take some time or have time restraints for when you can adopt the baby. Whenever you are able to take pictures of your newborn is the perfect time for you. The younger the baby the better, because of a few reasons. During the early days babies sleep a lot and it will be easier to take photos. Also, they are still quite flexible allowing you to take those cute yoga baby photos.

No matter how you become a mother, this journey is yours to have. Don’t short yourself by not fully participating in the experience. Whatever you are comfortable with and want to do is what you should do. Talk to your professional maternity photographer for ideas and milestones you want to have a session for and get them scheduled today.

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