Since 1982, the Independent Adoption Center has successfully placed over 4,000 newborns with families across the United States. Each family that is created through open adoption has its' own unique story. Preparation time, wait time, the length of the match between adoptive and birthparents, the hospital experience, and ongoing contact between the birth and adoptive families are different for everyone. In an effort to educate the general population and prospective birth and adoptive parents, we have compiled TRUE STORIES OF OPEN ADOPTION from past clients and staff members who agreed to share their stories of how their families came to be. The reader will be touched by these moving stories while learning about the depth of these distinctive relationships.
About the Author: Guylaine Hubbard-Brosmer, PhD, MSW
Guylaine Hubbard-Brosmer is the National Research Director, Home Study Supervisor and an Adoption Coordinator at the Los Angeles branch of the Independent Adoption Center (IAC). She has held other positions during her tenure at the IAC where she has been on staff since 2005. During this time, she has worked with hundreds of families during their adoption process and supervises a large, successful independent home study program. In addition, she has given numerous talks at conferences about agency adoption, open adoption and transracial adoption.
Dr. Hubbard-Brosmer has dedicated her career to family building in that she initially worked in the infertility field for 15 years following the completion of her PhD in Endocrinology from University of California at Berkeley. A career change led her to earn a MSW from California State University Long Beach, where her thesis project was A Study of Transracial Adoptive Parenting and the Needs of Multicultural Families.
Ann Wrixon, MSW, MBA
Ann Wrixon is the Executive Director of the Independent Adoption Center (IAC). She succeeded IAC Founder, Dr. Bruce Rappaport, when he retired in August 2006. During her tenure, the IAC has more than doubled the number of families for whom it provides services. IAC is a licensed adoption agency in California, Texas, Indiana, Georgia, North Carolina, Florida, New York and Connecticut.
Ms. Wrixon has spent her career managing non-profit organizations dedicated to improving education and child welfare. She has published widely on these and adoption-related topics, including open adoption, LGBT adoption, interstate adoption, and much more. Ms. Wrixon has a BA from Rutgers University, a MBA from San Francisco State University and a MSW from California State University East Bay.
