Domestic Adoption

Domestic (Agency) Adoption occurs when a birthparent requests our assistance with an adoption plan. The birthparent(s) has the opportunity to be involved in the selection of the adoptive home. An adoption can be as open as the birthparent(s) and adoptive couple desire. Click here to see a list of the varying degrees of openness. A domestic adoption usually results in the adoption of an infant. This type of adoption can cost anywhere from $12,000 - $15,000.

Common Q & A  

On average, we work with 10-15 birthmothers, at each of our locations, per year. The average birthmother is between the age of 15 and 27, and they have varying circumstances that lead them to adoption for their child.

You create a profile that relays what type of parent and family you would be to your child. This profile contains information about yourself, your family, your desire to adopt, and your commitment to being a parent. It also contains photos of you and your family. Generally these profiles are 6-10 pages long, in a scrapbook format.

Adoption Services will work with a “pool” of no more than 25 waiting couples (per location) at one time. Taking this and the number of birthmothers we typically have each year into consideration, we would estimate it could take anywhere from one to two years to be matched with a perspective birthmother. This is a very general estimation; adoption is a personal matter and involves someone finding the perfect “match.” As with all “match-making,” there are always other factors that determine the outcome. Domestic adoptions may take more than a few months, and require some patience.

Women typically choose adoption because they are unable to offer their child something that they wish them to have. Factors they often consider in an adoptive family are:

•  Marital relationship

•  Income stability

•  Family relationships (immediate and extended)

•  Home, lifestyle, and location

•  Opportunities available to their child

Again, this varies for each woman, and often has a lot to do with her own life experiences.

After your homestudy is completed, you will be a certified foster home. This means that if the mother continues to feel you are the right adoptive parents for her child, she may request you have the baby in pre-adoptive foster care (a legal risk placement). This means the child can go to you as soon as possible. For some couples, this means you may have the opportunity to take the baby home from the hospital. If a mother prefers the child to stay in a separate form of foster care, it is most likely that you would be able to take the baby home after the termination hearing (usually not less than four weeks after birth).

A Legal Risk Placement occurs when a mother requests you foster the baby before she has legally terminated her parental rights. It is a legal risk because the mother continues to hold all rights to the child, being able to see the baby, and even take the baby, as she wishes. Legal Risk Placement means you are simply the foster parents of a baby you could potentially adopt. It does not mean you are the parents, and the mother can remove the baby at any time. After the mother has terminated her parental rights (usually not less than four weeks after birth), the Legal Risk Placement ends and Adoption Services becomes the guardian, and you are the official foster parents.

In Wisconsin , the law requires the placing agency to be legal guardians of a child for at least six months after a parents' termination of rights. This means that after a birthmother has terminated her parental rights, Adoption Services becomes a legal guardian to the child for six months, during which time the child is in your home and you are considered foster parents. At the end of the six-month period, you will have a finalization hearing in front of a judge, which grants you to be permanent and legal parents of the child. You will soon after receive a new birth certificate for the child, in your family name.

In the State of Wisconsin , a mother has to legally terminate her parental rights in front of a judge. This termination usually happens a few weeks after the child has been born. A mother (even if she is thinking about adoption, and the baby is in foster care) continues to hold all legal rights to her child until that day in court. If, during this time, she changes her mind about adoption, there is no recourse. There is a great deal of emotion that goes on when a mother finally sees the baby that she carried for nine months. It is hard to determine whether or not something like this is going to happen. However, there are some signs that a mother may be changing her mind about an adoption plan. Always talk to the Social Worker assisting the mother about any concerns you may have. You can be assured that at Adoption Services we will inform you if we are experiencing any ambivalence from your perspective birthmother. Even with that said, it is important to remember that the mother does have the right to change her mind, and it could happen to any one. If you've chosen domestic adoption, it's a risk you have to take.