+ Is there ever contact between birth parents and adoptive parents after a termination of parental rights and adoptive placement?

It is not unusual for a birth parent to make an informal arrangement with the parents who adopt her child to have some form of further contact. Typically, an informal agreement is reached between the parties under which the adoptive parents may forward a progress report or photos on a periodic basis. Occasionally, some form of contact is agreed upon. All parties need to remember that the termination of parental rights means just that: the child will be raised by different parents. At this time, agreements between adoptive and birth parents for post termination contact are not legally enforceable.

+ What expenses can be paid as part of an adoption proceeding in Wisconsin?

The Wisconsin Children's Code describes expenses which can be paid or reimbursed to a birth mother as part of an adoption proceeding. Penalties for payment of expenses not permitted by statute can be harsh. To best protect all parties, verification of expenses incurred and reimbursed should be made.

Expenses which may be paid or reimbursed include the following:

• Legal expenses of the birth parent and for the guardian ad litem
• Medical expenses not otherwise covered by insurance or Medical Assistance
• Maternity clothing in an amount not to exceed $300
• Local transportation expenses
• Living expenses necessary for the health and well-being of the mother and fetus (Typically, that may include rent, food, and utilities. It would not include payment of past bills of a birth parent or items not needed for the health and well-being of the birth parent or child such as cigarettes, entertainment items, etc.) not to exceed $5,000.
• Professional counseling expenses
• Social service agency fees
• A gift of under $100

It is advisable to check with an attorney or caseworker from a licensed child welfare agency within the State of Wisconsin to verify what payments are appropriate and under what circumstances. These rules apply to cases in which the termination of parental rights of the birth parents occurs in the State of Wisconsin.

+ Can out-of-state adopting parents take physical placement of the child before the termination of parental rights hearing?

In many cases, yes. The birth mother can sign a legal risk placement agreement and subject to spproval by both the sending and receiving states, the child may be able to leave the state with the adoptive parents and may, in most cases, not have to return to Wisconsin for the termination of parental rights hearing.

+ If a foster parent has had a child in placement for a long time, is there anything the foster parent can do if social services gives notice of its intent to remove the child and place the child with another family or with a birth parent?

Yes. If a child has been in placement with the foster family for more than six months, the county social services unit is required to give notice of its intent to remove the child from the foster home. Once the notice has been received, the foster family has ten days to object to removal. Once the objection is filed, foster parents can request an administrative hearing or a court hearing on the subject of removal. They are entitled to present evidence to the hearing examiner or judge supporting their position that the child should not be removed.

Although it may be difficult to overcome the testimony presented by social service department witnesses, foster parents have prevailed in removal cases and ended up adopting or serving as guardians for children in their care. It is essential to act on a timely basis to preserve foster parents’ rights when removal is threatened.

+ Is it Necessary to Engage a Licensed Child Welfare Agency in a Private Adoption?

Yes. In a private (also called independent) adoption, a caseworker from a licensed child welfare agency will need to meet with the birth mother and prepare two reports for the court in advance of the termination of parental rights hearing. The adoptive parents will also need a home study completed by an agency. If not relatives, the agency will need to license them as Wisconsin foster parents before they are eligible to take placement of the child in a private placement.

A private adoption simply means that the adopting parents and the birth mother or birth parents decide together to form an adoption plan. It allows a birth parent to select an adopting parent or parents and guarantee that placement will be approved with the selected couple before parental rights are terminated. Birth parents and adoptive couples frequently become aware of one another by word of mouth through friends, family members and co-employees. Not infrequently newspaper ads or the internet are used to connect birth parents and adoptive parents.

In Wisconsin, those providing connections are not allowed to receive a fee unless they are licensed child welfare agencies. The rules for private adoption vary from state to state.

+ What happens if an adoption does not work?

Adoptions, like giving birth to a child, are intended to create lifetime relationships. A child of adoption in Wisconsin has the same legal rights as a birth child. However, in recent years, there have been increasing numbers of adoptive parents seeking to dissolve the legal parent-child relationship with an adopted son or daughter.

Wisconsin treats such adoption disruptions in the same manner legally as it treats a birth mother seeking to place her infant for adoption. A formal termination of parental rights procedure is required and there needs to be an adoptive resource or place for the child to go, a new set of parents.

+ What Legal Steps May Be Taken When Children Are Raised by Non-Parents?

Guardianship may allow the caretakers to enroll the children in school, obtain health insurance coverage, and provide parent-like authority to make other decisions for the children in their care. Guardianship is not as permanent as adoption. It may be undone by application of a parent to terminate the guardianship. It nevertheless provides at minimum an interim solution to child placement issues. Visitation and child support can be ordered under a guardianship.

+ What is a gestational surrogacy?

Gestational surrogacy begins when a couple can produce viable sperm and egg, which are combined in a laboratory to form an embryo, but the intended mother cannot carry the embryo to term. A gestational surrogacy also includes donated egg or sperm used to create an embryo. The intended parents (the biological parents) rely on a third party to receive an embryo (or embryos), become pregnant and carry the embryo to birth.

+ Is surrogacy legal in Wisconsin?

Wisconsin has no statutory law governing surrogacy, but there is caselaw which supports the enforceability of surrogacy contracts under certain circumstances.

+ What is embryo donation and is it legal in Wisconsin?

Embryo donation has been used increasingly by infertile parents in an effort to create a family. The numbers of embryos available for donation have increased markedly as a result of improved success rates of infertility clinics in using invitro fertilization to create embryos. Many more couples are creating such embryos, often in numbers exceeding those that they would actually use themselves for the creation of their own families. The embryos are then cryo-preserved in a storage facility and eventually either destroyed, used by the couple that created them, used for medical science, or donated for the use of others.

+ What is egg donation?

Egg donation as a family building measure has increased significantly over the past two decades. It is used when an intended mother cannot provide eggs capable of being fertilized to produce an embryo. Egg donation has experienced a significant increase in usage by male couples as a means to create their families.