Who Can Help Me Create an Adoption Plan in Colorado?
By Isabelle Sitchon
One of the first steps in the adoption process is creating an adoption plan. If you’re considering adoption as an option for you and your baby, it’s important to know your decisions. An adoption plan gives the birth mother an outline of what she wants for her child in her adoption journey. This can include the level of openness she would like in the adoption, which counselor she wants to assist her during the process, and a hospital/birth plan for her due date.
Creating an adoption plan contains many necessary decisions to ensure that your baby, along with you as the birth mother, will be in the best care. It can be difficult to navigate and can be stressful when facing alone. With our adoption agency in Colorado, we walk with the birth mother through the adoption process and guide her in making this plan. If you believe adoption in Colorado is the right choice, our counselors can help you create an adoption plan for your baby.
If you need adoption help now, please call or text us at 303-670-4673 (HOPE). Visit us at Adoption Choices of Colorado.
Scheduling a meeting with Adoption Choices
The first step in the adoption process in Colorado is to contact an adoption agency. At Adoption Choices of Colorado, we have a 24/7 team professionally trained and dedicated to guiding the birth mother through her adoption journey. You can contact one of our staff through a short web form on the Adoption Choices of Colorado website. If you are considering adoption and want to start making an adoption plan, we encourage you to reach out to us. After setting up an initial consultation, we will begin to work on creating your adoption plan.
Creating Your Adoption Plan
What exactly is an adoption plan? What does a birth mother have to decide on specifically? An adoption plan simply outlines what you would like for your baby in your journey. It benefits birth mothers by allowing your counselor to guide them through the process and advocate for their decisions. This way, we’ll be able to make the process easier for you to choose options that are best for your baby. In an adoption plan, the birth mother can:
- Decide on the level of openness she would like between herself and the adoptive family (open adoption, semi-open adoption, or closed adoption)
- Determine preferences for potential adoptive families with the help of her counselor
- Review family profiles and choose an adoptive family
- Opt into support services, including medical, financial, and mental health support
- Create a hospital/birth plan for your baby’s due date
- Put your adoption plan in writing after adoption occurs in a Post-Adoption Agreement
Each decision you make in your adoption plan is yours to choose only. Even so, giving your baby up for adoption is not easy. With Adoption Choices of Colorado, our specialists have previously helped many other birth mothers in the adoption process. They can assist you and guide you in making these decisions.
Preparing For Your Baby’s Adoption
The decision to choose adoption is life-changing. It can seem like your plan needs to be set in stone early on in the adoption process. However, we encourage you to take your time when constructing your adoption plan. The birth mother should make the appropriate decisions based on what she believes is best for the child, which may take some time to think about. Your hospital plan, doctor visits, and adoptive family–are just some of many matters to consider. We want you to trust your decision-making and consider what you would like for your child.
However, in your adoption journey, you may not stick with all of the decisions made in your original plan–and that’s okay. When you come to a point where you may be unsure, your counselor can help you going forward. For your adoption plan, it can be helpful for you to lay out your most important commitments in a written document called the Post-Adoption Agreement. It allows our agency and the adoptive parents to ensure they are on the same wavelength as the birth mother.
What Happens Once the Baby is Born?
When the baby is here, you’ll need to transfer the parental rights to the adoptive parents by providing your consent for adoption. Usually, in Colorado, the birth mother can perform this by legally consenting to court. In this step, your counselor will explain your options and help you with adoptive legal paperwork, along with creating the best hospital plan for you.
After the Adoption
Once placement occurs, your baby will be welcomed into their new adoptive family. If you choose a more open adoption, the adoptive family will keep in contact with you. They may give you updates on how your child is growing up through pictures, videos, phone calls, and possibly even in-person visits.
With Adoption Choices of Colorado, your child will be loved in their new home. However, as a birth mothers, we understand that it can be a difficult, emotional time for you. You may feel overwhelmed and exhausted from the stress of your journey. You may even be dealing with guilt, regret, or sadness. At Adoption Choices of Colorado, we offer counseling services to birth mothers needing support post-adoption. You can opt into these services when making your adoption plan or whenever you need. The adoption journey may be over, but it’s the beginning of an additional journey of healing and recovery.
If you are facing an unplanned pregnancy and want to learn more about your adoption options, contact Adoption Choices of Colorado by email, phone, or text: Email Us, Text us: 720-371-1099, Call us: 303-670-4673 (HOPE). If you are hoping to adopt, please contact us here.
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.
Christy Ikeler, is our Executive Director and Birth Parent Director. Christy has been with Adoption Choices Team for 18 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 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.
Ms. Mackenzie has built a successful counseling career over the past 20 years, supporting mothers and families, people of all ages and genders, students, community professionals and fellow clinicians. Liv values a diverse professional focus, including the entrepreneurial life of a sole proprietor, the evaluative process of certifying foster/adoptive homes, the insightful and mindful one-on-one one work with enthusiastic clients, and serving as an advocate for underserved populations. Liv is a Licensed Professional Counselor and holds a BA in Pre-Law and Economics from American University, an MA in Counseling from Adams University and a certificate in Human Resource Management from Villanova University. Away from work you will find Liv spending time in nature, biking to the farmer’s market and adventuring with her family.
Catherine A. Madsen, joined the Adoption Choices family as legal counsel in 2013. Catherine is responsible for providing legal guidance to the Agency, training and updating staff on developments in adoption law and legislation, and program development. Catherine
Virginia Frank is an adoption attorney accredited since 1991 with the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys. Ms. Frank is a leader in the field of private adoption and has completed over 4,000 adoptions in her career. Ms. Frank has a law degree from Oklahoma City University and a BA in both Political Science and Communications from the University of Oklahoma.
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!