ADOPTION ASSISTANCE NEWS & EVENTS
News
Colorado Interstate Adoptions: Process and Wait Times
The moment you’ve been waiting for is finally here! You’ve received the call that gives you the go-ahead to drive across state lines and pick up your newly-born son or daughter. You’ve weathered through the adoption process, and you’re ready to head home with your...
Trauma and Your Adopted Child
Adoption is miraculous in every sense of the word. A child is placed into a home full of family members that surpass the boundaries of love. It’s an act full of meaningful consideration. As an adoptive parent who is able to tuck your child into bed each night, you...
Types of Parenting Styles: What’s Yours?
How you choose to parent your child will impact their overall development and who they become in the future. That, and your parenting style also says a lot about you, your background and how you and your partner operate. It will teach your son or daughter how you see...
A Look into Gotcha Day
DEFINING GOTCHA DAY Are you curious about Gotcha Day or in need of inspiration on ways to celebrate the yearly anniversary? Either way, Adoption Choices of Colorado has you covered! Gotcha Day, also known as Homecoming Day, Family Day, or Adoption Day, is a...
Talking about Adoption with Your Son or Daughter
Before you begin the adoption process, you should formulate a plan for how you’ll talk about adoption with your son or daughter. How you’ll approach the topic, and when you’ll begin integrating into your daily life. The most vivid memory I have of my adoption story...
8 Ways to Bond with your Adopted Child
You’ve jumped through hoops and conquered the trials and tribulations associated with the adoption process. You even came out on the other end with your heart unscathed. In fact, your heart has grown tenfold! Finally, your family has grown, and your child is now safe...
Breastfeeding Your Adopted Baby
So, you want to breastfeed your adopted baby, but a list of unknowns stops you. How do you breastfeed a child you didn’t give birth to? What if you aren’t lactating? Are there any benefits? Is it even possible? The short answer is yes. It is possible for you to nurse...
Things to Do and Say Instead: To an Adoptive Dad
When someone you know announces that they are adopting, it’s natural to have a mixed reaction. There are definitely things you should never say, and things that you can say and do instead to an adoptive dad. If determining when the time is right for each sentiment is...
Events
6th Annual Adoption Picnic
It is our favorite time of year, annual picnic time!! Our 6th Annual Adoption Picnic is September 11, 2016 from 11 am-2 pm at the Arbor House in Golden, Colorado. We will be having face painters, great food and awesome fun! We are hoping for the best one yet, and hope...
Third Thursday- Adoptive Parent Support Group
Join us for a fun and informative support group for adoptive parents, both waiting for a match and those who are parenting adopted children. Every Third Thursday of the month at our Golden office, 2801 Youngfield Street, Suite 126, Golden, CO 80401 from 6 pm – 7:30...
Holiday Food Drive
Join us in giving to birth parents this holiday season! Please bring any non-perishable food items that you would like to donate to our Golden office on Monday, Wednesday or Friday before December 16, 2016. We will be distributing any goods received to birth parents...
Christy has been with Adoption Choices of Colorado for 13 years, since opening the doors in 2002! Christy has a true passion for what she does and her true love is working with and helping each birth parent. Whether she is up all night on the phone talking with them, taking them to doctors appointments, out for their favorite treat, providing counseling or at the hospital during labor and delivery, Christy is very involved every step of the way. She has a contagious laugh and a spunky personality that our birth moms all can bond with and relate to. As an adoptive parent herself, adoption holds a very special place in her heart and she can relate on every level with both birth parents and adoptive parents. In her free time Christy loves spending time with her daughter, gardening, baking and taking vacations with her family. Christy is an excellent leader for our team at Adoption Choices of Colorado and is truly one of a kind!! As Executive Director, Christy spends time with the staff, birth parents and adoptive families in order to ensure that the agency is running smoothly. She has placed a huge emphasis on community outreach and programs for birth parents. Christy loves the opportunity to lead the agency into a brighter future.
Her passion for adoption was sparked when she adopted her two sons through private, domestic adoption. She has been working in adoption for over twenty-three years and it has always been her desire to give back to the process that created her family. In her work Brenda counsels birth parents and provides support and guidance to adoptive parents. For the past thirteen years, she has also worked as a contractor in international adoption, including assistance with the COA (Council on Accreditation) Hague accreditation for two agencies. She is an innovative advocate for her clients and encourages them to truly participate in and take charge of the life event of adoption, a process that will profoundly affect them. It is her belief that in an atmosphere of honesty, respect, and support, it is possible to experience the process with realistic expectations about the challenges and joys of adoption. Brenda is an adoption educator and trainer and works as a confidential intermediary for the Colorado courts, locating and contacting sought-after relatives (birth parents, adoptees, and birth siblings). She has served on the Boards of Directors for several local adoption agencies and volunteers her time to Gift of Adoption. A Colorado native, she is an avid runner, loves doing yoga, enjoys reading, and creates jewelry. Brenda resides in Golden, Colorado, with her husband, her two sons, and Carmen the labradoodle.
Stephanie joined the Adoption Choices family in 2014 as the Child Placement Supervisor. Her love for adoption began in first grade when she made friends with twins adopted from Vietnam. Her heart grew strong over the years for adopted children and ultimately led her to graduate school where she continued her focus to her dream of working in the adoption field. Stephanie earned a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Denver in 2001. Over the past 15 years, Stephanie has worked as a pregnancy counselor and as an adoptive parent counselor for foster care, international adoption and domestic adoption, writing hundreds of home studies for families, and helping build their forever families. Stephanie is married and has three boys ages 12, 9, and 5. Together with her family she enjoys riding bike, playing games, watching her three sons compete in their various sporting and musical activities and go on vacations.
Brittany is the Office Manager and Paralegal for Adoption Choices of Colorado. Brittany is the newest member of the Adoption Choices family and has loved every minute of it! Brittany first became involved in adoption while working at an adoption agency in Utah. She started as a child care provider to the birth mothers, worked up to birth mother helper and lastly worked as Administrative Assistant, answering phones, having constant communication with adoptive families, maintaining the adoptive family files and running a monthly adoptive family training. Brittany traveled all over for adoptions in different states and would be there to support both sides during this amazing experience. It was through working at the Utah adoption agency that Brittany discovered her love for adoption and legal work. Her career path had been decided, Brittany moved to Colorado in 2010 to go back to school to become a Paralegal. At Adoption Choices of Colorado, she does all of the filing for adoptive parents and birth parents, preparing documents and supporting the staff with any task given to her. She is in daily contact with families, and loves helping each and every one of them on their journeys through adoption. Each day is different and that is the biggest thing that she loves about adoption. There is always something new and a challenge to overcome. Brittany sees the true meaning in adoption and the real “why” in the work that is done with adoption agencies. Seeing an adoptive family with their baby is the best feeling, knowing that a dream came true for that family! In her free time Brittany enjoys each moment with her husband and 2 daughters. Brittany also enjoys camping, hiking, vacationing, baking and reading.
Amber Klein started her career in the marketing and advertising world and quickly learned all about various types of communication, how to talk to people and how to effectively market any business. But she always knew that she wanted more. In 2016, she started to feel as though she wanted to give back in some way in her career and marketing wasn’t fulfilling that need for her. After a well-timed stint at jury duty (which she found fascinating and was actually disappointed to not be placed on the jury), she knew that she’d found the industry she wanted to be in and embarked in an intensive paralegal certificate program. Upon completion of the program, she started working at Adoption Choices of Colorado as office manager and paralegal. At Adoption Choices, she does all of the filing for adoptive parents and birth parents, preparing documents and supporting the staff with a variety of tasks. She’s so thrilled to have found a place where she can combine use her education and love of law to help better the world one family at a time. In her free time, Amber enjoys spending time with her family and friends, attending concerts, reading, experiencing her native Colorado backyard and running agility with her dog, Kirra.
Cassidie has been with Adoption Choices since 2015, she has her bachelors in Interdisciplinary Affairs with concentrations in both Sociology and Business Management. Cassidie has additional training in Victim Advocacy, foster care and has been working in women’s services for over 10 years. Cassidie has always had a heart for adoption and it was her career dream to work in adoption. She started off doing volunteer work for advocacy programs, adoption organizations and worked in High Risk Maternal Fetal Medicine through the University of Colorado Hospital and Children’s Hospital of Colorado. Cassidie is also blessed to have personally experienced an adoption of her own in 2012, completing her family of five! Cassidie loves what she does as a case worker from initial phone calls, meetings, doctor appointments, interaction with the adoptive families to delivery and counseling. Cassidie has a passion for those in need and strives to help make a difference in the lives of the people she meets. She is a firm believer in being kind, compassionate and open minded in all situations. “Unless you’ve walked in their shoes, there’s no place for judgment. A kind word or compliment can go a long way!” The bittersweet moments in adoption reminds Cassidie each and every time, why she loves what she does!
Liv obtained her undergraduate degree in pre law from American University in Washington, DC,(1994) and completed an MA in Counseling at Adams University (2001). Qualifying her as the only specialist in the Four Corners region, Liv obtained a Master Clinician endorsement in Prenatal and Postpartum Mood Disorders from the Postpartum Stress Center. Liv is also a volunteer for Postpartum Support International. Liv’s unique work supports families with anxiety and depression after the birth of a child, fertility issues, loss of a child, NICU trauma and adoption/foster care. Liv has also worked with Pediatric Partners of the Southwest as a member of the Integrated Behavioral Health Team. In addition to seeing clients in her private practice, since 2004, Liv has provided a variety of adoption services in the Four Corners area in Southwest Colorado. This includes: adoption home studies, post placement services, foster parent counseling, relinquishment counseling and birth parent support.