A few years ago, Carly got a phone call from a woman in central Minnesota who’d placed her child for adoption in the 1980s. This woman had been cautioned never to mention the adoption to anyone, and for years she’d mostly kept this chapter of her life secret, including from her own children. Now the woman wanted help locating her birth son, and so she reached out to Children’s Home.
As post adoption supervisor, Carly leads a team that supports families and adoptees long after an adoption is finalized.
In the case of this central Minnesotan birth mother, Carly eventually found the woman’s son and helped to facilitate their reunion.
“In post adoption, we get to be part of people’s healing journeys,” Carly says.
The field of post adoption services is relatively new, and Children’s Home has been at the forefront since its inception. “We were the very first agency, nationwide, to make continuing services available after a child’s legal adoption,” she says.
One of the most common areas of support Carly’s team provides is guidance for parents navigating challenges around attachment.
“Attachment to a caregiver takes a lot of time. Some adoptees have had a long string of adults in their lives who have failed. There needs to be a lot of patience and meeting the child where they’re at,” she says.
Carly’s own experience as an adoptive parent informs her work, but what continues to motivate her is helping adoptees and families find answers, connection and healing. “We know this work is life-changing,” she says. “To be part of that is a huge privilege.”
