A woman experiencing an unplanned pregnancy and considering adoption in New Mexico may be thinking any of these questions:

• Am I ready to be a parent?
• How to decide to keep a baby or not?
• How do I choose what to do if I’m not ready to be a parent?
• What are my options if I’m pregnant in New Mexico?

A woman experiencing an unplanned pregnancy in New Mexico may be thinking any of these questions, in addition to many more. It makes complete sense; an unexpected pregnancy can be a stressful time in anyone’s life, and it’s normal to feel unsure of what your next move should be. If you’re in this situation, we’d first like to remind you to breathe. You are not the first woman to be in this position, nor will you be the last. We’d also like to advise you to learn as much as you can about your New Mexico unplanned pregnancy options, of which there are three.

We also encourage you to call 1-800-ADOPTION or fill out this free online form to connect with one of our professionals today.

Please note that, while we are an adoption agency, this article is written solely to educate New Mexico women about their unplanned pregnancy options. Adoption is not right for everyone, nor do we intend to convince anyone to pursue it simply by reading this article.

1. Parenting

Anyone experiencing an unplanned pregnancy in New Mexico must first ask herself, “Am I ready to be a parent?” If you can confidently answer that question with a yes, then you can stop reading this article right now. If you are ready to parent, no one should ever attempt to convince you to do otherwise. If, however, you can’t decide if you’re ready for that step, it’s important to consider some of the realities of parenting a child:

• It costs roughly $233,610 for a middle-class family to raise a child until the age of 17. This statistic was collected for a child born in 2015, so that’s a number that will only rise as time passes. If you haven’t been saving and budgeting for a child, this can be an extreme financial hardship.

• Will you have help in raising this child? Many women experiencing unplanned pregnancies in N.M. aren’t at a point where they feel confident that their children will be raised in two-parent homes, and while that isn’t necessary for a child to be safe and loved, parenting alone can undoubtedly be more difficult.

•  Are you in the middle of pursuing educational or career goals that might be more difficult with a baby?

• Do you want to be a mother right now? Some women want to wait longer to become parents, while others choose not to enter motherhood at all. There is absolutely nothing wrong with either of those scenarios.

If you’re still on the fence about whether or not you’re ready to parent, you still have two New Mexico unplanned pregnancy options to consider.

2. Abortion

Abortion, of course, is a sensitive subject — much more so than either of New Mexico’s other unplanned pregnancy options. However, that doesn’t mean it isn’t still an unwanted pregnancy option. As an adoption agency, we aren’t going to pretend that abortion doesn’t exist. Instead, all we ask is that you remember to get your information about it from reliable sources only, such as Planned Parenthood. If you’re interested in learning some facts about abortion in New Mexico, you might note that:

• In 2014, there were 11 facilities that provided abortions in New Mexico. Approximately 91 percent of New Mexico counties did not have one of those facilities, and 48 percent of the state’s women lived in those counties.

• As of January 1, 2018, New Mexico did not have any major types of abortion restrictions, such as waiting periods or mandated parental involvement.

3. Adoption

As you have probably guessed, the third unplanned pregnancy option in New Mexico is adoption. While we can go on and on about this subject, we’ve decided to keep it short for the sake of this article. Instead, we’ll list some benefits of adoption that aren’t associated with the other two New Mexico unexpected pregnancy options:

• With adoption, you have the option to remain in your child’s life — to watch him or her grow up and achieve their dreams —without taking on the responsibility of parenting before you feel ready to do so.

• Adopted kids are more likely to participate in activities outside of school or to pursue further education because they were raised in homes that were both financially and emotionally prepared for them.

• Adopted kids get to grow up with two sets of loving parents.

We don’t expect this article to have magically illuminated the right unexpected pregnancy option for you, but we do hope it helped you to learn a little bit about each of your choices. For more noncommittal, unbiased information, please call American Adoptions anytime at 1-800-ADOPTION or reach us online for free. 

Disclaimer
Information available through these links is the sole property of the companies and organizations listed therein. American Adoptions provides this information as a courtesy and is in no way responsible for its content or accuracy.