Adoptive parent here! And here’s my opinion…
The 17-year-old who gave my son up for adoption 13 years ago did it for two reasons–she felt her child deserved a better life and she felt SHE deserved a better life. Her decision was not an easy one (she got a lot of pressure to keep the baby from the birth father’s family), but in the end, she decided to stick with her adoption plan.
Guess what? We have an amazing son, standing on the threshold of young man-hood, who is bright, even-tempered, loving, and loyal. He’s a good student, a 2nd degree black belt, and an altar server. And he has just made the lives of my husband and me complete (not to mention the rest of the family–we can’t imagine our family without him!)
His birth mother went on marry (NOT our son’s birth father) and have two more sons. She has a happy, well-adjusted life and has decided to let our son decide when and if he wants to contact her (yes, he knows he is adopted, but he has expressed no desire to contact his birth mother.)
So it seems that the adoption not only was in the best interest of the birth mother and the child, but also the best interests of us, the adoptive parents. We have a child who we consider our own, whom we would not have had if God had given us our own biological children from the beginning (as I said, we can’t imagine our lives without him!)
She knew she was not ready for motherhood. Perhaps some might see her actions as being selfish and irresponsible, but to me and my husband, her motives don’t detract from the enormous blessing we received in our lives from her decision.
And that young woman who made that courageous decision is in our prayers–and those of her own son–every single day.