Open Arms Adoptions is an Ohio-based, nonprofit, licensed agency providing free, confidential support to expectant parents in Delaware County. If you are pregnant in Delaware and considering placing your baby for adoption, you do not have to navigate this alone.
Our team is available 24/7 to explain options and create an adoption plan that fits your circumstances. Support may include financial assistance, medical and legal guidance, and connections with pre-approved adoptive families. You can choose the family and your involvement.
Feel free to contact Open Arms Adoptions whenever you’re ready.
What to Expect When Placing a Baby for Adoption
If you are exploring adoption, here is what that path can look like.
Choosing the Type of Adoption
You might be worried that opting for adoption may expose your identity as the birth mother, but you can actually decide how much contact you want with the adoptive family after placement.
- Open adoption: You and the adoptive family know each other’s identities and may stay in direct contact through visits, calls, photos, or messages.
- Semi-open adoption: Contact runs through us, allowing you to share updates without exchanging identifying information.
- Closed adoption: No identifying information is exchanged.
The decision is yours, and you do not need to know your answer when you first contact us.
Choosing the Adoptive Family
You have a say in which family your baby goes to. We show you profiles of families who have completed a home study, passed background checks, and finished their training. When you find a family you like, Open Arms will confirm if a match is possible.
Local Support in Delaware
If you are searching for “baby adoption near me” online, you’ll find local government and non-government adoption agencies in Delaware County and the wider Columbus area. We serve in both areas and offer adoption options for expectant mothers across Central Ohio.
How the Adoption Process Works in Delaware
1. Reach out.
Open Arms is available 24/7. You can call, text, or send a message through the site. The first conversation is confidential and commits you to nothing. Ask whatever you want, including questions you think might sound strange.
2. Build your plan.
A certified adoption assessor works through what you want: the level of openness, what matters to you in a family, your wishes for the hospital, and what contact after placement might look like.
3. Choose a family.
You review profiles with photos, letters, and background information, and you decide which family will adopt your baby. If none of them feel right, you keep looking.
4. Get support in place.
We coordinate your medical care, help you access financial support for living expenses, and arrange counseling if you want it.
5. Plan the birth.
We work with your hospital on who is in the room, whether you want time alone with your baby, and when or whether you meet the adoptive family.
6. The legal step.
Ohio law does not allow you to sign a consent to the adoption until at least 72 hours after your baby is born. That waiting period exists to protect you. You will have your own attorney, paid for by Open Arms, to explain exactly what you are signing before you sign it.
7. Afterward.
Counseling and support continue after placement, for as long as you want them.
You can learn about the adoption process in more detail.
Financial Support and Living Expenses for Delaware Birth Parents
Our adoption services in Delaware come at no cost to you. Agency fees, legal representation, and counseling are covered.
Ohio law also allows the adopting family to pay certain living expenses during pregnancy and through the 60th day after birth. The current cap is $6,000, up from $3,000, as increased by House Bill 5 in March 2025 under Ohio Revised Code 3107.055.
Covered expenses may include:
- Rent or mortgage
- Utilities and food
- Household and personal care items
- Maternity clothing
- Transportation to work or school
Keep in mind that $6,000 is a ceiling, not an amount you are automatically owed. What you receive depends on your needs and what the probate court considers reasonable.
Payments are handled through the agency and, when possible, made directly to your landlord or utility provider rather than given as cash. This is support for living expenses, not payment for your child.
If you do not have insurance, we can also help you explore Medicaid or other coverage options for prenatal care and delivery.
Your Rights as a Birth Parent in Ohio
There are laws in place to protect your rights as a birth mother in Ohio throughout the adoption process:
- You have at least 72 hours after birth before signing consent: No one may ask you to consent before that period ends.
- You can change your mind before signing: Until consent is executed, you can decide to parent without pressure.
- Withdrawing consent after signing is more limited: Under Ohio Revised Code 3107.084, a judge may allow withdrawal only if it is in the child’s best interest.
- Agency surrender is different: A permanent surrender is generally irrevocable unless duress or fraud is proven. Your attorney can explain the document.
- You receive your own attorney at no cost: Your attorney represents you, not the agency or adoptive family.
- You choose the adoptive family and level of openness: You have a say in who adopts your baby and what contact looks like.
Hospital Planning for Delaware County Birth Parents
Delivery options in Delaware County changed this summer. OhioHealth Grady Memorial Hospital ended inpatient labor and delivery on July 31, 2026. No hospital in Delaware County now offers inpatient labor and delivery.
Where You May Deliver
OhioHealth is directing patients to:
- Dublin Methodist Hospital: About 30 minutes from Delaware
- Marion General Hospital: About 30 minutes from Delaware
- Riverside Methodist Hospital: About 35 minutes from Delaware
Prenatal, postpartum, and gynecologic care remain available in Delaware County. Grady’s emergency department can handle an emergency delivery if labor moves too quickly for the drive.
Planning for Adoption
If you are placing a baby for adoption, plan which hospital you will use, how you will get there, and who will be with you. We can coordinate with the hospital about your birth plan and the 72-hour period afterward, giving you one less thing to manage.
Contact our team to discuss your hospital plan as early as you can.
Helping You Feel Confident Throughout the Adoption Process
You do not need to have decided anything to talk to us. Plenty of the women we work with called with questions and no conclusion, and some of them chose to parent.
If you are pregnant in Delaware and adoption is something you are considering, call or text Open Arms Adoptions at 330-697-4751. The conversation is confidential, and there is no obligation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Agency fees, your legal representation, and counseling are covered. Ohio law also permits the adopting family to pay up to $6,000 for living expenses incurred during pregnancy and through the sixtieth day after birth, including rent, utilities, food, and transportation.
Yes. You review profiles of families who have completed a home study, background checks, and training, and you decide which one to select. You also decide whether you want an open, semi-open, or closed adoption, and what contact after placement looks like.
Before you sign the consent, yes, at any point. Ohio requires a waiting period of at least 72 hours after birth before consent can be signed. Withdrawing consent after signing is possible only by court order and only before the adoption is finalized.
OhioHealth is directing patients to Dublin Methodist, Marion General, and Riverside Methodist, roughly 30 to 35 minutes from Delaware. Prenatal and postpartum care remain local. Open Arms Adoptions coordinates hospital planning so you know where you are delivering well in advance.
A certified adoption assessor who is available by phone or text, free counseling before and after placement, help coordinating medical care and Medicaid if you need it, assistance with living expenses, and a hospital birth plan built around your wishes.
Yes. Your conversations with Open Arms Adoptions are confidential. In a semi-open or closed adoption, your identifying information is not shared with the adoptive family. You control how much you share and when, at every stage.
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