You may ask this question if you are not sure whether you are at the right place in your life to provide the home you want for your child. Some expectant birth mothers asking this question are still in school. Or, not with a partner they want as a co-parent for their child. Maybe you just need more information on what parenting in your circumstances will look like in order to know the best route for your child. It may be that you want to have a family later and will be a wonderful mother under other circumstances or when the time is right. If you decide on adoption for your chil ..read more

    Mandy* placed her son (Justin*) for adoption 16 years ago. She was 17 years old at the time of Justin’s birth and developed a strong relationship with Social Worker, Claire Schulz Bergman throughout the adoption process. Mandy has stayed in contact with Claire over the years for support, to check in about Justin and share interesting news about her life. She is currently parenting two beautiful children. Mandy agreed to speak with Claire about the impact that adoption has had on her life and to share what she learned about herself by going through the adoption process.  Thi ..read more

Although Claire has since retired from her position as the Executive Director, her lasting contributions to Adoptions of Wisconsin, Inc. are more than worthy of further recognition and praise. Caroline, one of our social workers, interviewed Claire to learn more about her experience and what inspired her to dedicate her career to social work in adoption. She shared invaluable insights and advice regarding adoption. Here’s what she had to say. What sparked your interest in working in adoption? I have adopted siblings and I wanted a job in social work that was meaningful and where I could tangi ..read more

When did you go through the adoption process? I was actually adopted so I grew up with a lot of exposure to adoption and my family was very open about it. It was never something that we didn’t talk about. My brother was adopted too. I found out I was pregnant in 2019 when I was 17. I freaked out and set a timer on my phone for 2 hours. I was like I will give myself 2 hours to cry and then I’ll figure out what to do. Later that night, I started thinking about different options, and I found the Adoptions of Wisconsin website. I was looking through all of the waiting family pictures, and I found ..read more

When did you place your child for adoption? 2019 How did you feel when you found out you were pregnant? Overwhelmed. I was not sure if I could take care of the baby because at the time I was going through a lot. Why did you choose adoption? What was your process behind making that decision? I chose adoption because I wanted my son to have a good life and get the care that he needed which I could not give him. You can give a child all the love in the world but that just is not enough. Who was the most helpful and supportive person in the process of placing your child for adoption? Hollie, my s ..read more

When did you go through the adoption process? 2006. When you found out you were pregnant how did you feel? Scared. What made you decide to choose adoption? Well I was 16. I was not ready for a family. It was not my intention to get pregnant, but it happened, and I don’t believe in abortion. I weighed out a lot of pros and cons for keeping him or placing him for adoption. When there were more pros to adoption is when I ultimately chose to do adoption. In the process of placing your child for adoption who would you say was the most helpful person?   There was a couple of them. I worked wit ..read more

Using positive adoption language means taking care to choose the words that are accurate and respectful  to all those involved in the adoption process. It can feel like a new language to learn when you first begin the adoption journey, but it becomes intuitive the more involved you are. Below are a few examples of some commonly misconstrued phrases in adoption. Expectant parents/birth parents versus real parents/natural parents A person planning to place a child for adoption is an “expectant parent,” if the baby is not yet born. That person is a “birth parent” after the child is born ..read more

Mandy* placed her son (Justin*) for adoption 11 years ago. She was 17 years old at the time of Justin’s birth and developed a strong relationship with Social Worker, Claire Schulz Bergman throughout the adoption process. Mandy has stayed in contact with Claire over the years for support, to check in about Justin and share interesting news about her life. She is currently parenting two beautiful children. Mandy agreed to speak with Claire about the impact that adoption has had on her life and to share what she learned about herself by going through the adoption process.   Q: First off, th ..read more

Background: Jessica is 5 months pregnant and due in January. She and Michael are making this adoption plan together. They are already parenting two small children and decided that they can’t afford to take care of any more children. They are matched. Adoptions of Wisconsin's Claire Schulz Bergman sat down with Jessica and Michael to interview them about the adoption process. Q: What surprised you about the adoption process so far? A (Jessica): The process was easier than I thought. I expected a lot of paperwork and to have to meet a lot of people. All I wanted was a loving couple for my baby ..read more

The first step toward choosing adoption is realizing that you’re not going to give up your baby, or be “giving up” anything. You’re making a parenting decision for the child you’re carrying. Many birth parents believe that if they decide that adoption is the best choice for their child, they will never be able to see their child again. This can cause undue amounts of stress and indecision for a mother, neither of which she deserves. Open adoption is a type of adoption in which the birth mother and the adoptive parents agree to varying degrees of contact and exchanges of information. Depending ..read more