INDIANAPOLIS — As the abortion landscape is set to change in the state of Indiana, social services agencies expect the need for their services to increase.
A new program focused on helping pregnant mothers considering adoption will be launched in 2025 after a large investment from the Lilly Endowment Inc.
The Villages of Indiana, Inc. has received a $1.637 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to develop and create a new mother-centered adoption program in Indiana by 2025.
“We are pleased and extremely grateful to Lilly Endowment Inc. for its investment in The Villages’ areas of expertise to care for pregnant women and parents caring for newborns, whether biological or adoptive, across the state,” said Shannon Schumacher, President & CEO of The Villages of Indiana. “We envision a world where every child, youth, and family will flourish in safe, nurturing environments and this grant ensures The Villages can remain responsive to the needs of the most vulnerable in our communities.”
The program will help expecting mothers facing challenges that make pregnancy and parenthood especially difficult and whether adoption is the right choice for them.
"It’s Making sure she has access to prenatal care and that she is housed and that she has access to mental health care and all the resources that she needs,” Schumacher told WRTV. “Then we will follow the mother after she has her baby. "
If an expectant mother chooses adoption, the Villages will connect her with an Adoption Care Expert.
If an expectant mother decides not to choose adoption, the Villages will connect her with resources designed to help pregnant women and new mothers.
Those services will be similar to The Villages Health Families program — an evidence-based home visitation program for pregnant women and mothers of newborns.
Last year they assisted more than 1,200 women through Healthy Families, including Yareliz Rodriguez, who has been taking part in the program since 2017.
"I knew it would be hard and difficult because we never had a kid before but I learned so much through the program, " Rodriguez said.
She tells WRTV that having access to the resources she didn't even know she needed has helped her and her fiance become the best parents they possibly can be to their five children.
"I learn new things every day,” Rodriguez said. “I don't know everything. I'm not perfect and I do make mistakes but I am where I'm supposed to be now."
With the abortion ban looming in Indiana, The Villages tells WRTV that they expect more babies to be born.
"We don't know what it's going to look like. We honestly don't," Schumacher said. “This is a social experiment that we've not seen in the country. So we just want to make sure that those women and that increased number of babies that are going to be born are supported. "
That's why they are creating the new mother focus adoption program to help women navigate through some difficult decisions.
"We know that women that give their babies up for adoption are at higher risk of postpartum depression more so than other mothers,” Schumacher said. "We know that the women often times give their babies up for adoption are unmarried and they don't have support. "
