Birth Mother Matters in Adoption Episode 52: Red Flags in Adoption Explained When a birth mother comes into an adoption agency with the intent of placing her baby for adoption, it is important to understand her reasons for choosing adoption. “Red flags” is a term that we use to assess a birth mother’s probability of placing her baby for adoption (to the best of our ability (we don’t have a crystal ball.)  Counseling will assist her in processing her thoughts and feelings.  Red flags always need to be evaluated in context and all factors need to be considered before confirmation is stated.  Additionally, red flags do not necessarily mean that the adoption won’t happen, they mean that further investigation is warranted. Often times during the adoption process, situations will arise where the agency or adoptive family will become concerned and wh ...