MILES PARKS, HOST:
Many Republicans see adoption as an alternative to abortion, and they want to see the practice get more federal and state support. This summer's Republican tax and spending bill included an expanded tax credit for families who adopt children. But one group that also wants support - birth mothers. Reporter T.J. Raphael recently talked with some of them as they gathered in Atlanta.
T J RAPHAEL: Inside a small hotel conference room on Peachtree Street in downtown Atlanta, dozens of women have gathered for a panel focused on a unique kind of child loss.
CANDACE CAHILL: I was coerced and manipulated into giving my son up for adoption.
LESLIE PATE MACKINNON: We are concerned, united birth parents, and we're here for what we're united on.
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RAPHAEL: That's Candice Cahill and Leslie Pate Mackinnon of Concerned United Birthparents, or CUB for short. It's a national organization founded by people who placed their children for adoption. Each year, group members get together for a retreat. Together, they find community in grief, something outlined here by conference panelist and birth mom, Amy Barker.
AMY BARKER: When I lost my son to adoption, I did a ceremony in the chapel there at the hospital to hand off the baby, and I have never gutturaly wailed like that. My body felt the separation and knew it was forever.
RAPHAEL: There are many reasons why children are placed for adoption. Some women face pressure from families. They feel unprepared to parent, or they might be in an abusive relationship. The reasons can be deeply personal, but CUB says the vast majority of its members experienced unplanned pregnancy and lacked financial resources and support to care for an infant.
BRINA COLLINS: I was in my early 20s and really just was in a crisis.
RAPHAEL: When Brina Collins learned she was pregnant, she was living in rural Alaska. Her partner was out of the picture, and her car kept breaking down.
COLLINS: There was no buses - right? - nowhere to walk, so I couldn't get to the store by myself. And there was a time where I was watching "The Ellen Show," and it was, like, the holiday season, and I kept submitting myself, hoping that if I could just get money, I could get a car, and then I would be fine, and then I could parent this baby.
RAPHAEL: Collins wound up placing her infant son for adoption in 2015. But her experience isn't unique. In fact, it's a common tale for birth mothers in America.
GRETCHEN SISSON: Lack of resources is really the defining reason that most mothers today are relinquishing their children.
RAPHAEL: Gretchen Sisson is a sociologist and the author of "Relinquished: The Politics Of Adoption And The Privilege Of American Motherhood." Research shows that American birth mothers are rarely considered when it comes to policy.
SISSON: We are making a choice to invest in families that are adopting children rather than a comparably modest investment that would allow people to raise their children and keep them in their family of origin.
RAPHAEL: She's critical of the new Republican tax and spending law that includes a more-than-$17,000 deduction for people who adopt children, including a $5,000 tax credit. But that provision is not just for families seeking to adopt infants from private agencies. It can also help children of all ages who are in foster care.
LISETTE DUFORE BENZ: There are more than 70,000 youth who have a permanency plan for adoption.
RAPHAEL: Meaning they're ready to be adopted, says Lisette DuFore Benz. She's the programs coordinator at the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute, the bipartisan group that championed the tax credit. And she was adopted at birth back in 1995.
DUFORE BENZ: So knowing that adoptive families can receive this tax credit is very encouraging and that more children, like myself, have a chance to be placed in permanent nurturing families sooner.
RAPHAEL: DuFore Benz says the policy is needed to support vulnerable children. Birth parents like Collins wish there was more support for young single mothers like her who may place their infants for adoption because they lack resources.
COLLINS: I know 100%, if I had had $5,000, I would have gotten a cheap car - right? - and I would have raised my son.
RAPHAEL: CUB members want to help other women avoid adoptions solely because they lack support or financial resources. For NPR News, I'm T.J. Raphael in Atlanta. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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