It's not an easy decision to take, but sometimes personal or social circumstances determine pregnant women to consider offering their child for adoption. Some of them may decide that the baby's life would be better without them. The good news is that there are a lot of good people out there able and willing to offer the very best to a child.

What to do if you're in this situation?

The most important thing to start with is to seek expert advice. There are many child adoption agencies out there that would be more than happy to meet you and talk to you about the options, but it is preferable to search for independent advice and information at first, such as social services.

Capegateway.gov has a wealth of information or you could also consider talking to a charity worker from a national organisation, such as Childline. (http://www.childline.org.za/) The social workers might advise you to search for an adoption agency, but it's unlikely that they would recommend a particular one, for neutrality reasons.