When Carlynne Hershberger found out she was pregnant at 19 she could never have known then how that experience would shape the rest of her life. Many women don’t. In Carlynne’s case she became a victim of the baby scoop era when young pregnant women were hidden away and their babies were taken from them with little consideration for their feelings on the matter and given to other families to raise. Carlynne wants us to be aware that even though the baby scoop era is technically in the past, large pieces of that thinking remain. She believes birth mothers need more support and more options available to them so they can truly consider what is best for them and their children.
Learn More About Carlynne and the Resources She Recommends
- Get to Know Carlynne Better. Explore the artworks Carlynne has created based on her experience as a First mother. The collection is titles Silent Voices. Her blog titled “One Option Means No Choice talks from her heart about the situation for first mothers today here.
- Read “The Girls Who Went Away”. The Book “The Girls Who Went Away” by Ann Fessler is a well written education about what happened to women and their babies in the Baby Scoop Era. It is important to understand this part of adoption history, especially if you are considering adopting a baby domestically. I like to get my books used from Better World Book, so I am providing the link here. I don’t benefit in any way from you using this link.
- Learn More About Matching. Matching prospective parents to women who are pregnant can be more problematic than it seems from happy birth stories after birth mother is out of the picture. Start learning more about matching so we can have more productive conversations about how to make sure pregnant women have all the support they need to make the right decision for them. This article or This one may be a good place to start. Like many aspects of adoption there is not a lot of well researched information about the possibilities here and there needs to be more.
- Visit “Save Our Sisters”. Find out what this organization is about and what they do for first mothers. Their website is here.
Adoption Uncovered 