Following is a transcription of the document received by Small Miracles.

{Letterhead}

From: Small Miracles Foundation of the Rockies
(303)279-0606

Information for Birth Parents and Mutual Understanding for Services

1. Introduction: Small Miracles is a child placement agency licensed by the State of Colorado. Our staff includes people such as birthparent counselors and adoptive parent counselors, a psychologist, and people who manage business and financial affairs. Most of our staff has personal as well as professional experience in the adoption process, including alternatives such as abortion. From the beginning, a personal counselor will be provided who will be your advocate and support your interests.

Our services are as equally available to birth fathers as they are birth mothers, and we encourage the participation and involvement of birth fathers. When warranted and if you desire, our information and counseling services are also available to your family (parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, aunts and uncles, and children).

2. Our Job: The main job of a child placement agency like Small Miracles is to ensure the health and well-being of the children whom we place, and to protect the rights of the children, their birth parents, and their adoptive parents. The services we provide are more extensive than those required by law. Our services to you include the following, free of charge:

3. About You: We fully realize that you are undergoing an emotionally, physically and perhaps financially difficult time. Some of our forms may at times be too long or our work intrusive. That is not our intent. Please know that what we do is necessary as the fulfillment of our function as your advocate and as a licensed agency. If you have questions or concerns, mention them. We will respond. All information you provide is held in the strictest of confidence and disclosed to no one without your prior written consent.

We will work with you to explore your options. We offer you information on alternatives, respond to you concerns and answer your question. Then, you devide what you want to do. You can continue to work with us by making an adoption plan for your child, you can decide to terminate your pregnancy (up until you are about 22 weeks pregnant), or you can decide you want to parent your child. Or, you can take a reasonable amount of additional time to decide what you want to do.

4. Our Committment: We are committed to providing a compassionate, beneficial, amd empowering experience to you. When your pregnancy is over we want you to be better off then when you first met us. We are committed to being available to you. We will ensure you know your legal rights. We will try our best to enhance your physical and emotional health through counseling and support. WE will present no unnecessary obstacles or impose any arbitrary standards. We will be available to you: our regular business hours are 8:30 a.m. - 9:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, except legal holidays. However, we will always have an experiences staff member on call and available to you by phone at all other times (nights, weekends, and legal holidays) at our regular and "800" phone numbers. Most of all, we will be fair, honest, and candid with you.

5. Your Committment: In return, the most important committment you make to us is your honesty. We expect you to be open, candid and fair with us at all times. We cannot do our job unless you are honest about what you are thinking and feeling. There are no penalties if you devide to parent your child or to terminate your pregnancy - we won't be angry or upset with you -- so long as you keep us fully informed in a "timely manner". We ask you (as well as our adoptive couples) to provide us with signed releases for information in the areas of medical, psychological, and legal. We do not disclose this information to anyone without your prior written consent. You should remain accessible to us and inform us of any change of address or telephone.

We will fulfill our committment to you as long as you fulfill yours to us.

6. Finding A Couple For Your Child: We have a selection of waiting adoptive couples, with pictures, information about you, their jobs and lifestyles, and so forth. Many couple live locally and some live out-of-state. They are usually between the ages of 27-37.

We also provide services to our adoptive parents. These include assessment of their readiness for the many challenges of parenthood, verifying their financial security, and ensuring they have no history of legal problems which could affect their ability to be good parents. They are provided with counseling and education regarding the issues involved in adopiton, and the aspects of ensuring a physically and emotionally healthy child who grows into a responsible and productive adult.

All of our adoptive couples have experiences infertility, the physical inability to produce a child. This is an agonizing experience emotionally, but by the time we present couples for your consideration, they have successfully overcome and resolved the emotional aspects of their infertility. They are eager to become parents. They view adoption as a healthy alternative to being biological parents. We provide you with non-identifying informaiton about htese couples and provide them with non-identifying information about you. If you desire you can meet the couple you select, and in many cases even have an ongoing relationship with them.

7. Open and Closed Adoption: Our adoption program includes both "open" and "closed" adoptions. Open adoption usually involves the adoptive parents and birth parent(s) meeting one another and exchanging "non-identifying" information (for example, ages, heritage and ancestry, health histories, family backgrounds, type of job, recreational pursuits, religious preferences, etc.). Non-identifying information does not identify who you are, such as last names, phone numbers, addresses, etc. How often you meet and the amount of information exchanges depends upon mutual attitudes and desires. Some openness assists you in knowing the adoptive couple and letting you feel secure in you decision. At the time of birth of afterwards, if you want, the adoptive parents can be present. Your counselor will always be available at this time. The type and amount of contact you have with the baby, and anyone else has, is up to you.

Closed adoption is where the adoptive parents and birth parent(s) do not meet or exchange any information and fequently know little if anything about the other. There are also situations which are "partially open" or "partially closed". Some birth parents do not want to see their baby, and if not, we honor this request.

8. Financial Assistance: Our adoptive couples may provide financial assistance to you or on your behalf. This assistance is provided in the form of an advance. The nature and amount of assistance is based on need. By law, all such assistance must be reasonable, necessary and pregnancy-related. It may include advances for food, clothing, incidentals, housing, education, transportation, medical and health care expenses. Within there parameters such assistance is legal and must be approved by a judge at the time of the adoption. This assistance is not compensation for the placement of your child for adoption. The nature and amount of assistance is subject to our discretion. In the event you choose to parent your child, you will be obligated to repay all advances on terms that are mutually acceptable. In providing this assistance, Small Miracles acts as your intermediary (agent) but not your guarantor.

With your permission, your counselor will assist you in applying for and receiving public financial assistance if you are eligible. This includes Medicaid coverage and other financial assistance available to pregnant women. You must have a permanent address to obtain this assistance. She will also assist you with your work plans and career goals.

9. Our Services Do Not End: We continue to offer services following relinquishment and placement. We provide ongoing counseling and support for you and for the adoptive parents. We supervise the placement fo six months to ensure that it progresses well and that the child's best interests are being served.

10. This is A Legal Agreement: Now that you know what to expect, you need to decide whether or not you want to continue to work with us. If no, in order to protect you and protect us, you and we need to sign that document. This document is our mutual understanding of what each other will do and what each expects of the other.

If you sign, you are telling us that you understand the contents of this document and that you agree to do your best to fulfill your obligations, and that you agree with the above policies and procedures. You are also telling us that you had sufficient opportunity to consider the contents of this document and to discuss it with anyone you want to.

Our signature tells you that we also understand the contents, and will do our best to fulfill our obligations, and agree with the above policies and procedures.

Signing this agreement does not obligate you to place your child for adoption. A decision to do that can only be made after birth, by signing a legal petition to relinquish your rights to the child and having a judge grant the petition.

Your signature and ours also tells each other that:

Read Adoption Agreement

Small Miracles:

Jeffrey D. Lavenhar,
Executive Director