Post-Adoption Services
At New Life Adoptions, we realize that adoption is a lifelong journey and different adoption-related needs arise throughout the years. New Life is committed to offering birth parents, adopted adults, and adoptive families support any time after your adoption is complete.
Our post-adoption department is here to assist you in seeking answers to your questions, searching for your birth family or the child you placed for adoption, reconnecting after you have lost contact, or exploring opportunities for new levels of openness.
We also want to stay connected with you! Even if you correspond with the adoptive family or birth family directly, please keep your information current with New Life Adoptions so we can keep you informed of important events and resources along with information relevant to your adoption.
Post-Adoption Services
New Life Adoption’s post-adoption services are not a substitute for counseling or therapy. It is not uncommon to need additional mental health support from an adoption competent therapist when seeking post-adoption services as the topics, relationships, or process in general may bring up a variety of thoughts and feelings regarding your adoption story. We highly encourage you to seek the help and support you need to work through any of these thoughts and feelings. We can offer referrals to adoption competent therapists as well as other applicable resources.
Correspondence
While most birth parents and adoptive parents correspond with each other directly, New Life can also serve as the intermediary for correspondence between parties. For example, if an adoptive family and a birth mother want to exchange letters and pictures a few times a year, but personal mailing addresses have not been shared, they can do the following: The sending party can mail the correspondence to New Life’s Post-Adoption Social Worker and the worker will then forward the correspondence to the receiving party. The same can also be done with packages. When sending correspondence through New Life, please include the correct postage.
Coordination of In-person Contact
New Life’s Post-Adoption Social Worker is available to coordinate in-person contact between parties. For example, if an adoptive family and a birth mother would like to have in-person contact, but the parties do not have direct contact with one another, the Post-Adoption Social Worker can facilitate the contact between each party. The party initiating the in-person contact should call the Post-Adoption Social Worker and indicate the request. The Post-Adoption Social Worker will then call the other party to coordinate the in-person contact.
Ongoing Assistance with an Adoptive Relationship
At New Life Adoptions, most placements have some level of openness. We believe that openness is valuable for all parties involved. We also acknowledge that there can be challenges in an openness relationship, just like in any other relationship. New Life’s Post-Adoption Social Worker is available to provide openness consultation for any member of the adoption constellation in recent and not so recent placements.
Obtaining Information from My File
New Life Adoptions maintains detailed adoption files as required by law. Information may be obtained from your adoption file, such as a social and medical history. If you are any member of the adoption triad and are interested in obtaining information from your file, such as a social and medical history, please contact the Post-Adoption Social Worker to request this information.
Requesting Non-identifying Background Information from My File
If you are an adopted adult or a parent of a minor adopted child, you may request a summary of the social and medical background information regarding the adopted person’s birth family. This summary is compiled from information located in the file at the time of placement. It may include information about the birth family such as physical descriptions, ethnic background, religious affiliation, education level, talents, or hobbies. No identifying information about the birth family will be included in this summary.
Search and Reunion Services
If you are part of the adoption triad and have a closed relationship, you may be interested in the search and reunion services that New Life Adoptions offers. These services are used when there is little or no contact between two parties (such as an adopted adult and their birth parents). New Life can facilitate the reuniting of two parties or can conduct a search for a party whose contact information is outdated.
There are a lot of aspects to consider as you start a search or try to reconnect after some time has passed. We can help you talk through what your options are and what to consider as you begin. However, our post-adoption services are not a substitute for counseling or therapy. If adoption-related matters need to be managed by a professional therapist, we will help you find appropriate referrals. We look forward to serving you as you explore your post-adoption needs!
CONTACT US:
POST-ADOPTION SOCIAL WORKER:
REBECCA ANFINRUD, LSW
CALL: 612.746.5670