“Nightmare” adoption experience prompts push for new law
A couple of Northeast Wisconsin families are pushing for a change in state law after what they call “nightmare” experiences trying to adopt children in Wisconsin.
Now they’re teaming up with a local lawmaker to change the law.
The smiles don’t begin to show the love these parents and children share for each other.
Watching them eat lunch together around the dinner table, you’d never know the nightmare they’ve been through trying to complete adoptions in Wisconsin.
“For us, it was such an emotionally difficult adoption with our first son that we had decided we would never do that again,” says Carrie Madson.
“When we started our adoption journey several years ago, we had a pretty brutal first adoption process,” explains Addie Teeters.
Addie and her husband, Brian, who is a WBAY employee, and Adam and Carrie Madson each tried to adopt their first child in Wisconsin.
The Teeters had a newborn little girl at home with them for three months, waiting for the court to finalize the adoption, when the birth mother changed her mind.
“We found that Wisconsin is not an adoption friendly state. It makes it much more difficult,” says Brian Teeters.
The Madsons had a similar experience trying to adopt Jax, though eventually they were successful.
But when it came time for second adoptions, neither family even considered Wisconsin.
“But because they’re so out of touch, it’s, we just had to go somewhere else. That’s kind of sad,” says Adam Madson.
They blame an outdated, unfair law.
In Wisconsin, birth parents have roughly 30 days to relinquish their rights, and they must appear before a judge to do so.
If the birth parent doesn’t show up, which happened with the Madsons, a judge often continues to delay the hearing.
De Pere Rep. Andre Jacque says it’s time to bring Wisconsin in line with other states, many of whom don’t require court hearings and allow mothers the option to relinquish rights after 72 hours.
“This is simply one more opportunity to say that we’re not going to force you to go into court, and that’s something that I think discourages both adoptive parents and birth parents,” says Jacque.
He just wrote the Wisconsin Adoption Fairness Act and began circulating the bill to other lawmakers Monday, hoping to garner support and co-sponsorship for the proposal.
He hopes it will push Wisconsin out of the bottom third of states when it comes to adoptions.
“It really is something that’s meant to make Wisconsin a more adoption friendly state. We do lag 37 other states, as well as the District of Columbia in terms of adoption rate,” says Jacque.
“It’s not only about us, it’s about the birth mother and then, of course, the end result is the child,” adds Brian Teeters.
We also reached out to the national support group Concerned United Birthparents.
A spokesperson told us, quote, “I can make a decision about a piece of furniture or article of clothing and have 30, 60, or even 90 days to rescind that decision. Since placing a child for adoption is the biggest and most life-altering decision a person can make, I think 72 hours is laughable.”
Jacque hopes to introduce the Wisconsin bill by November 1.
To learn more about the Wisconsin Adoption Fairness Act, click here to connect to the Facebook page.