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Post Adoption Volunteer Reconnects Families
Irene Molitor’s relationship with Catholic Charities’ Adoption Services began nearly 50 years ago, when she and her husband adopted their first child, a girl. They adopted their son three years later.
 In 1985, Irene completed an internship at Catholic Charities’ Prenatal Services program as part of her masters’ degree in Counseling Psychology. That's when she began volunteering with Adoption Services, housed in the same building as the prenatal program.
Retired, Irene volunteers every Friday in the Post Adoption program.
Irene reconnects birth mothers, adopted adults and their siblings. She helps walk clients through the process, from their request for a search to direct contact. She interviews and counsels clients, conducts online searches for information and facilitates their correspondence.
Conducting a search and preparing people for contact can take months or years. Several long-time Post Adoption volunteers dedicate time to filing, exchanging mail and searching through marriage and death records.
Two volunteers write birth family histories to help adopted adults learn more about their birth parents without revealing identifying information. These narratives include information such as a birth parent’s occupation, hobbies and reasons for making an adoption plan.
“I think we do good work,” Irene says. “It’s valuable work because we bring a lot of joy to these people who are searching.”
Irene has 19 open search cases. They’re closed when a family reaches direct communication and no longer needs Irene to act as intermediary.
“It’s so rewarding when there’s a coming together of a birth parent and a birth child, and with siblings as well,” she says. “That’s the greatest joy.”
Read more recent stories about volunteers.
Learn about volunteering with Catholic Charities.
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