When you make an adoption plan in Colorado, your baby goes home with a loving family you choose. There's no foster care placement, no temporary care arrangement, no uncertainty about where your baby will be; we help ensure your child goes straight to their permanent home.

It's natural to have questions and big feelings about this decision. Beyond any doubt, you want to know your child will be safe and loved. Understanding how the Colorado adoption process works and what happens after placement can give you the confidence to move forward.

You're already showing incredible love by seeking answers. Let us help you find them.

Contact a Colorado Adoption Specialist

Below, we'll walk you through what happens after placement, how families are carefully chosen, the options for staying connected, and the help waiting for you throughout this journey.

Hospital Discharge, Legal Consent, and Placement in Colorado

Once you make your adoption decision in Colorado, your baby goes home with the family you selected. When working with a licensed adoption agency like ours, your child never enters the foster care system.

In Colorado, the adoption placement process includes three key moments:

Hospital Discharge: Time with your baby at the hospital after birth is yours if you want it. The adoptive parents take your baby home directly from the hospital when you're ready. Your specialist coordinates this moment to ensure everyone feels supported during the transition.

Making It Official: Colorado does not require a waiting period before signing any paperwork. Once you sign the adoption papers, the adoptive parents take on full responsibility for your baby while the adoption moves toward becoming final.

Placement Transition: During this transition, your specialist stays with you. Many Colorado birth parents describe feeling peace when their baby goes home with the family they chose and trust.

But who are these people, really? How can you be sure they're ready?

Contact a Colorado Adoption Specialist

Direct Placement: Your Baby Goes Home with the Adoptive Family

The family you choose takes your baby home right after making your adoption decision in Colorado. When working with us, your baby never goes to foster care, group homes, or temporary placements.

These families have been preparing for months before you ever meet them. By the time you make your decision, these parents are legally approved, financially prepared, and emotionally set to welcome your child into their permanent home. In Colorado, only one move happens for your baby: from your care directly to their new family.

If your baby needs extended hospital care for medical reasons, the adoptive parents are there with them according to hospital policies and what feels right to you. Hospital arrangements get coordinated by your specialist to ensure everyone stays informed and comfortable.

Colorado Adoptive Family Screening: Home Studies, Background Checks, and Approval Requirements

American Adoptions requires every prospective adoptive family to complete a comprehensive vetting process before they can adopt. Families can't view birth mother profiles or begin an adoption journey until they've passed all requirements.

Here's what families go through to prove they're ready:

• Home Study: A Colorado social worker gets to know the family via interviews, home visits, and background checks. They look at finances, relationships, readiness to parent, and whether the home is safe for a child.
• Background Checks: Every adoptive parent goes through criminal history checks, child abuse registry searches, and driving record reviews. Families with concerning backgrounds don't move forward.
• Medical and Financial Verification: Prospective parents prove they can provide for a child's needs (physically, emotionally, and financially) via medical exams and financial records.
• Adoption Education: Families take required courses about open adoption, parenting adopted children, and supporting kids' connections to their birth families.
• Character References: Social workers talk to people who know the family: friends, employers, family members. This confirms they're prepared for this.

Every family profile you review has completed this entire process and meets both Colorado legal requirements and our own standards.

What if you could meet families today who are eager to love your child? Families who have been carefully chosen and are waiting for someone just like you to choose them.

Find an Adoptive Family in Colorado

Colorado Adoption Finalization: Court Hearings, Timeline, and Permanent Parental Rights

After you make your adoption decision in Colorado, there's a period before everything becomes legally final. During this time, the adoptive parents are fully responsible for your child in every way.

Colorado requires a court hearing, typically scheduled three to six months after placement. A Colorado judge reviews the adoption and makes it legally permanent. At this hearing, the judge legally establishes that your parental rights officially end, the adoptive parents become your child's legal parents, a new birth certificate gets issued with the adoptive parents' names, and the adoption becomes legally permanent.

Attending this court hearing isn't required. Some birth parents choose to be there or write a letter to the judge. Your specialist can talk through what feels right for you. In Colorado, once the adoption papers are signed and any waiting period passes, the decision becomes permanent. Your specialist will help you fully understand this before you sign anything.

Many birth parents worry that making this choice means losing connection forever. That doesn't have to be your story.

Open Adoption in Colorado: Maintaining Contact After Placement

Open adoption in Colorado lets you stay connected with your child and their family after placement. These relationships can include letters, photos, text messages, video calls, or visits based on what you and the adoptive family agree feels right.

Choosing how much contact you want is entirely up to you. Look through family profiles to find people whose hopes for staying in touch match yours. Some Colorado birth parents prefer getting annual photo updates, while others want regular communication and planned visits.

Why do birth parents choose open adoption? The benefits include:

• Ongoing updates about your child's growth and development via pictures and stories
• Assurance your child knows their adoption story and understands who you are
• Peace of mind from seeing your child thrive in their adoptive family
• An honored place in your child's life where the adoptive family respects your role

We facilitate open adoption relationships for Colorado families. We help birth parents and adoptive families establish healthy communication boundaries, maintain consistent contact, and navigate relationship challenges over time. If contact becomes difficult, we provide mediation support to help both families stay connected.

Imagine getting updates about your child's first day of school. Their first lost tooth. Their favorite bedtime story. These moments don't have to be lost to you.

Find an Adoptive Family in Colorado

Post-Adoption Support for Colorado Birth Parents: Counseling, Financial Help, and Ongoing Resources

We stay connected with Colorado birth parents after placement. Care and resources continue long after your baby goes home with their family.

What kind of help can you expect?

Post-Adoption Counseling: We connect you with counselors who understand adoption grief, loss, and healing. These counselors can help you process what you're feeling and find your way forward.

Extended Financial Help: Colorado allows birth mother financial assistance to continue for up to six weeks after placement. This help covers living expenses like rent, utilities, and groceries while you're recovering.

Open Adoption Help: If staying in touch with your child's family becomes difficult or unclear, we step in to help both families maintain healthy contact and address any concerns.

Lifelong Connection to Your Specialist: Many Colorado birth parents stay in touch with their American Adoptions specialist for years after placement. You remain an important part of our community—not just a closed file.

You don't have to carry this weight alone. There are people ready to walk beside you through every part of this journey.

Learn More About Birth Parent Support

American Adoptions Colorado: Birth Parent Support Before, During, and After Placement

From your very first call, you'll have someone dedicated to walking beside you. This person becomes your advocate, your go-to for questions, and your guide throughout this journey. Facing a decision or difficult moment without someone who understands and cares will never happen.

Colorado birth parents receive comprehensive help at every stage.

Before Placement:

• Someone you can reach anytime, day or night, with questions or just to talk
• Help with pregnancy expenses including rent, food, utilities, and medical costs
• Guidance finding a family that matches what you're looking for
• Free legal representation protecting your rights during the process
• Planning together for what happens at the hospital

During Placement:

• Your specialist at the hospital with you if that's what you want
• Help coordinating the transition to the adoptive parents
• Guidance completing all the required paperwork
• Ongoing emotional care and counseling during your hospital stay

After Placement:

• Financial help for up to six weeks while you're recovering
• Continued access to counselors who understand adoption
• Support maintaining your relationship with the adoptive family
• Connection to your adoption specialist for as long as you need it

Thousands of women in Colorado have walked this path with us. Being alone in this process isn't something you'll have to face.

Contact a Colorado Adoption Specialist

Connect with a Colorado Adoption Specialist Today

What happens to your baby after adoption in Colorado depends on the plan you create. The family you select (people who have been carefully chosen) will welcome your child. Staying connected via open adoption remains an option if that's what you want. And experienced people will be there for you at every stage.

There may be a family waiting right now—a family who can't complete theirs without someone like you. Your choice today could change everything for them, and for your child.

American Adoptions is here to answer your questions about adoption in Colorado whenever the time feels right. Whether you're just beginning to explore this option or you're prepared to take the next step, we'll give you honest answers and walk with you along the way.

Find the Help You Need in Colorado

Your choice matters. Your child's future matters. And you matter. Let us help you create the best possible outcome for both of you.

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