FARMINGTON — Many hands are helping ease the pain for one local birth mom of giving up her baby to adoption. That support is coming from the adoptive family, her own extended family and LDS Family Services. “They are trying to help me, be supportive. They want me to move on,” Jessica said of the family who adopted her baby less than a month ago. Speaking to the Davis County Community of Promise group early this month, she said “this is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to gothrough.” But Jessica decided it was better to find a loving family for her baby than to try and go it alone. Her mother had to raise her alone as a single mom from the age of 9, she said. “The birth father took off. I had to look at things from the baby’s perspective,” Jessica said. She looked at online information about 500 potential parents before settling on a family that happens to live only five minutes from her home.Jessica has been able to see her daughter multiple times and receives daily email updates, she said. “I’m seeing my daughter being loved. She is in a good place,” Jessica said. Jessica was not pressured by the agency to go any particular direction, the young woman emphasized. An unwed mother having a baby is still looked down upon in this society, she said. “These tremendous services helped me re-direct my life,” Jessica said. “My goal now is to go back to school.” She said the support is helping her get through this tough time – something she can’t say for the birth father. “He never got counseling and to this day I can feel his anger. It’s all bottled up,” Jessica said. Aamola Edwards a licensed clinic social worker with LDS Family Service said, “We are not just an adoption center,” she said. “We are focused on what is best for you.” The agency seeks to provide “wrap-around care” that includes weekly individual and group counseling sessions. The program involves not only the birth mom but also her family members. LDS Family Services has its roots in the early 1920s, when the church’s Relief Society had responsibility for helping unwed mothers. In those days, the auxiliary organization sponsored programs such as summer camps and wilderness experiences.
For more information check out the Oct.11 edition of Davis Clipper.
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