Contact Information

Catholic Family
Services Office
523 N. Duluth Ave.
Sioux Falls, SD 57104
605.988.3775
1.800.700.7867(STOP)
(FAX) 605.988.3747
 Email


 
Adoptions
If you can not find the answer to your question or would like more specific information, please contact our office:

Machelle Kocer
Adoption Supervisor
email
605-988-3775 or 1-800-700-7867 (STOP)

 
Questions & Answers about Adoptions
 
What is Adoption?
How long has Catholic Family Services been doing adoptions?
Are there different kinds of adoptions?
What are the benefits of open adoption?
Are there benefits to using a licensed agency?
What are the requirements to adopt through CFS?
What steps do we take to adopt through CFS?
What fees are associeated with adoption?
Can CFS help with an international adoption?
If I'm pursuing a private adoption, what services can CFS provide?
What is an Adoption Search?
What steps do I take to conduct a search?
What kind of information can one obtain through a search?
Is searching for my birth parents a good idea?
Can both adoptees and birth parents ask for a search?
What is the South Dakota Voluntary Adoption Registry?
Can I correspond with my birth parent/s without them knowing my name or address?
Other
 
  What is Adoption? - back to top
According to Webster, "To take by choice into a relationship; especially: to take voluntarily (a child of other parents) as one's own child".
 
While that is the true definition, it is much more than that! It is bringing together 2 different families for the common good. It brings emotions of happiness, sadness, and excitement - oten felt at the same time by both the couple and the birth parent(s).
 
Through Pregnancy Counseling birth parents and their families are given the tools to make a decision that is best for their baby and for themselves. Adoption is a loving choice.
 
 
 
  How long has Catholic Family Services been doing adoptions? - back to top
On January 5, 1961, the South Dakota Department of Public Welfare licensed Catholic Family Services, then known as Catholic Charities, as an adoption or child placement agency. The religious Sisters working in the Catholic hospitals alerted the Diocesan officials that the needs of unwed mothers and their children were not being met. The SD Catholic Hospital Association and pasters of churches also confirmed the need and recommended the establishment of a diocesan agency to meet these needs. Under the leadership of Bishop Lambert Hoch and Mr. Ed Ackerman, a social worker from the Archdiocese of Detroit, the agency was developed and licensed. Since 1961 the agency has been a licensed Child Placement Agency and has place thousands of babies in adoptive families.
 
  
  Are there different kinds of adoptions? - back to top
Yes
Open Adoption - An open adoption is where birth parents choose the adoptive parents. They meet, exchange contact information, share pictures and letters and have occasional face-to-face contact throughout the child's life.
 
Semi-Open Adoption - In a semi-open adoption birth parents also choose the adoptive couple and meet with them on a first name basis. They talk, meet, and exchange letters and pictures through the agency after the adoption.
 
Closed/Confidential Adoption - In a confidential adoption birth parents may choose the adoptive family from profiles provided by the agency or may ask the agency to select the adoptive couple. The birth parents may or may not choose to meet the adoptive couple. Confidential adoptions make it possible for the birth parents to protect their identity from the adoptive family.
 
What if I choose a confidential or semi-open adoption and later would like more openness?
Arrangements can be made to increase the level of openness upon the mutual agreement of both birth parents and adoptive parents. This may happen as mutual trust develops.
 
  
  What are the benefits of open adoption? - back to top
From the Child's perspective -
  1. Children growing up in an open adoption have a more complete sense of identity, know the love of the birth parents, and have access to genetic health information.
  2. Contact with the birth parents allows the child to know why adoption was chosen. Access to the truth about his/her adoption is easier to face than the unknown.
  3. Being able to have immediate access to health information can be a matter of life or death. Knowledge of one's genetic history helps a doctor know which tests should be routinely performed in a child's life.

From the birth parent's perspective -
  1. It provides control in the placement process. The birth parents choose the adoptive couple for their child, allowing them to have an active role in the adoption process.
  2. Healthy grieving is part of the process. Birth parents have ongoing contact when they are confronted with their loss. They are forced to deal with the loss and are reminded of their role when they are not being called Mom or Dad. Experiencing this loss is very painful for the birth parents but with time they grieve in healthy ways.
  3. Ability to maintain an on-goin special relationship with the child. Since the birth parents chose the adoptive couple this often increases the chances of compatibility among the child, birth parents and adoptive parents.

From the adoptive parent's perspective -
  1. Adoptive parents are able to answer their child's questions honestly and accurately and have a stronger sense of entitlement.
  2. Open adoption allows the adoptive parents and birth parents to get to know each other based on their love for the hcild. This sense of loving the child together brings all parties closer together and builds their sense of entitlement to parent.
  3. Parents are able to better understand their child's tendencies and temperament.

 
 
  Are there benefits to using a licensed agency? - back to top
For the birth parent... you will...
  1. Work with a compassionate, experienced, licensed and well trained staff that is up to date on issues, regulations and laws.
  2. Have a "One Stop Shop" with all services provided in one place and with a social worker who knows all the details and needed paper work.
  3. Receive unlimited FREE Counseling before and after the birth of the baby for as long as necessary
  4. Receive education about parenting as well as adoption and be allowed to make your own decision.
  5. Have opportunities to choose and meet prospective adoptive families that have been screened and prepared for adoption.

For the Adoptive Families... you will...
  1. Work with an agency that has more than 40 years of successful adoptive placements
  2. Work with a compassionate, experienced, well trained and licensed staff that is abreast on issues, regulations and laws.
  3. Work with an agency that has yearly licensure visits and supervision by the State of South Dakota to assure quality and compliance with state requirements
  4. Receive ongoing parenting education and the opportunity to meet others who have place children, adopted children, or who were adopted.
  5. Have frequent contact, support, and encouragement from staff and other waiting couples.
  6. Meet the requirement of international agencies to have home studies and post placement visits done by a licensed agency.
 
 
 
  What are the requirements to adopt through CFS? - back to top
Applicants must meet the following requirements to adopt through Catholic Family Services.

  1. Reside in the Sioux Falls Diocese
  2. Usually are married at least three years, and have a valid marriage recognized by the Catholic Church.
  3. Intend to raise the child Catholice. At least one partner is a practicing Catholic and registered in a Catholic Parish. (THIS IS THE ONLY PART OF OUR SERVICES WHERE WE REQUIRE THE CATHOLIC FAITH)
  4. Are at least 21 years of age and not over 45 at the time of application.
  5. Are in good physical and mental health.
  6. Are unable to conceive and bear children or have medical problems that may be complicated by a pregnancy. It is expected the couple would have consulted a physician regarding their fertility problems prior to formal application.
  7. Special exceptions are made for special needs children.

 
  What fees are associated with adoption? - back to top
Catholic Family Services asks no fee or commitment of, nor makes any commitment to people on the inquiry list. There may be more than two years between inquiry meetings. People are encouraged, if they wish, to inquire about services through other agencies, private or international adoptions.
 
Domestic Placements/ Adoptions:
Fees for Adoption Services are divided and collected as the various processes are started, namely, application, home study, placement and post placement. The placement fee is based upon the Adjusted Gross Income of the couple and is determined during the home study process. Through the sliding fee program an adoption is affordable to most families.
 
 Fees for Adoption Services off set expenses incurred, which include: adoption workers time and expenses, pregnancy counseling provided to the birth parents, legal services for termination of parental rights, reports to the court for finalization, legal consultation, back ground checks, preparation of legal documents and reports, travel, office and administrative expenses, etc.
 
Adoption Tax Credit:
The new tax law allows up to $10,390 to assist with qualifying adoption expenses which can be used over a couple tax yeras. The adoption credit is subracted from your tax liability. Families with Adjust Gross income of more that $155,900 will receive smaller credits or perhaps no credit. For more information on the Adption tax credit please visit the IRS website <Tax Benefits for Adoption-IRS Publication> or consult your tax advisor.
 
International & Private Adoptions
Costs are based upon the service provided. See the next section for specifics.
 
 
  Can CFS help with an international adoption? - back to top
Catholic Family Services is a licensed placement agency with the State of South Dakota and therefore recognized by International Adoption Agencies to provide specific adoption services for theri international clients in the state of South Dakota. The potential adoptive couple works with the International Adoption Agency such as, Children of Various Nations (FCVN) of Colorado or Gift of Love out of Iowa or Dove to obtain the children. Catholic Family Services assists by providing the following needed services in order to complete the adoption:

  1. Home Study... the specific requirements of each country can be met by Catholic Family Services and copies of the report sent to the agencies involved.
  2. Adoption Education Training... Catholic Family Services has invested in a 10.5 hour curriculum for pre and post adoptive family education to prepare couples to deal with parenting, bonding and developmental issues related to international adoptions.
  3. Post Placment Visits... The number of post placement visits varies with each country. Catholic Family Services can make the needed visits and prepare the reports for the International Agency.
Couples wishing to pursue an International Adoption shoul call Catholic Family Services (1-800-700-7867) to discuss specific needs and the costs. Catholic Family Services has worked with adoptions from many different countries.
 
 
  If I'm pursuing a private adoption what services can CFS provide? - back to top
A private adoption involves 1). a birth parent arranging to place the baby with a self-selected adoptive family and is not working with an agency or 2). an adoptive couple working through a law firm to adopt a child.
 
Catholic Family Services can provide the following services for couples pursuing a private adoption:
  1. Home Study
  2. Birth Parent Counseling and Reports for the Courts
  3. Adoption Education Training
  4. Post Placement Visits with needed reports
Individuals seeking the above services should call Catholic Family Services (1-800-700-7867) to discuss the specific services needed for the adoption and therefore the costs.
 
 
  Post Adoption / Search - What is an adoption search? - back to top
Historically, adoption was done by merely recording the transfer of a child, similar to the registration of a deed. Protection became linked with secrecy. In the 1950's most states passed laws sealing adoption records to the public, the adoptive parents, the birth parents, and adoptee. Later adoptees found this protection to be a hardship and left them with unanswered questions and missing pieces to their lives. The myth that "if one's parents" is not true. An Adoptee wants to know about his/her genetic ancestry, "why I was given up", "did my birth parents love me", "what were they like", what did they look like", and "what were their interests and personalities?" These questions lead adoptees to conduct searchs for their birthparents so they might know the answers to these questions. Laws were enacted to permit adoptees 18 years of age or older to obtain a court order and open their files. 
 
 


   
    Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls, 523 N. Duluth Ave., Sioux Falls, SD 57104 | 605.334.9861
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