Texas Children’s Pioneering Adoption Care Program Offers Compassionate Support
When Jennifer Woolley joined Texas Children’s Hospital as Adoption Care Coordinator in January 2025, she brought more than a clinical background; she brought personal experience. A former labor and delivery nurse, Jennifer is also a birth mom and an adoptive mom. Her personal and professional paths have given her a deep understanding of the complexities surrounding adoption and what compassionate care looks like.
“When I was 18, I made the incredibly difficult decision to place my child for adoption at birth,” she says. “That experience made me realize just what power we have as healthcare providers to really impact our patients’ experience and whether they feel supported. It’s shaped the entire trajectory of my life.”
Today, Jennifer leads Texas Children’s new Adoption Care Program, a donor-funded initiative designed to support patients pursuing adoption and to equip our teams to care for them with confidence and compassion. This unique program is putting Texas Children’s at the forefront of adoption care.
What the Adoption Care Program Does
Based at Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women and expanding across NICU settings, the Adoption Care Program is built on a simple idea: if a patient chooses adoption, they should receive informed, respectful and compassionate care.
Jennifer’s role involves supporting patients through the emotional and logistical aspects of adoption, sometimes connecting them with vetted agencies. She also trains care teams, helps staff work through unfamiliar or complex situations and works closely with social workers—not to replace them, but to complement their role with adoption-specific expertise.
“My goal is to be a navigator for these patients,” she explains. “If they’ve made an adoption plan before they come to deliver, I walk alongside them and just give them any resources they need, answer any questions, and help them understand what to expect when they get here.”
Jennifer is also supported by Dr. Jennifer Bump, an OB-GYN at the Pavilion for Women, who serves as the program’s physician champion. Like Jennifer Woolley, Dr. Bump is a birth mom, and the two bring both lived experience and clinical expertise to this work. As a member of the program’s steering committee, Dr. Bump helps shape care coordination and workflow from a physician’s perspective, reviews new educational content, and connects Jennifer with other providers and teams across the system. She is also the primary physician referral for patients making an adoption plan who need care.
“As a birth mother, the care I received from my obstetrician created such an affirming and supportive environment that it shaped my desire to become an obstetrician,” says Dr. Bump. “A dedicated adoption care program gives patients an advocate from the start and equips our teams to respond with empathy and clarity. That changes the experience for everyone involved.”
Why This Matters More Than You Might Think
The need for the Adoption Care Program is greater than appears on paper. When Jennifer asked how many adoptions had occurred at Texas Children’s last year, she found only three were formally documented. However, in her first 15 weeks on the job, she supported 13 patients: many with vastly different needs.
In one recent case, she spent several weeks walking alongside a birth mother who had decided to make an adoption plan but was early in the process. After delivering, the birth mother was discharged, and the baby was transferred to the NICU. Jennifer continued to support the adoptive parents, who had traveled from out of state and remained in Houston for weeks.
“Adoption is happening more often than we realize,” she says. “There has just not been a clear place for us to document it: something we’re working toward.”
Some patients arrive with a formal adoption plan already in place. Others make that decision late in pregnancy or even post-delivery. In each case, Jennifer is there to provide clarity and support to patients and adoptive families, as well as the care teams supporting them.
Supporting Our Team in Real Time
Recently, while preparing for the introduction of a baby to their adoptive parents and facilitating a potentially emotional moment for the birth mother, a NICU nurse recognized she needed Jennifer’s expertise. “She looked at me and said, ‘I don’t know what to say. I don’t want to say the wrong thing,’” Jennifer recalls. “She just wanted to support both families, and I really appreciated her openness to learning and asking for help.”
According to statistics, less than 2% of women with unplanned pregnancies choose adoption. Jennifer says a major factor is that many patients don’t know it’s an option and, even when they do, stigma remains a barrier.
“There are so many myths and misconceptions about what adoption is and what it can look like,” she adds. “People say things just trying to be friendly and kind, but sometimes they’re not helpful.”
Studies show that 33% of patients who placed their child for adoption feel stigmatized even by their healthcare team.
Building a Better Standard of Care
Jennifer is working to change that: starting with education. She’s already delivering focused education to new graduate nurses, residents and clinic staff and plans to expand training as workflows evolve. Topics include how to approach adoption with sensitivity, how to respond to patients’ emotional needs, and how to recognize when to ask for help.
Texas Children’s is also implementing signage to raise awareness so that environmental and dietary service staff, phlebotomists, or other members of a patient’s care team don’t unintentionally say something hurtful. Discreet door markers similar to those already used for bereavement support incorporate the universal adoption symbol and alert staff to use thoughtful, adoption-aware language when providing care in designated rooms.
Jennifer and Dr. Bump hold the adoption symbol, a triangle intertwined with a heart, representing the three key figures in the adoption process: the birth family, the adoptive family, and the adoptee. The heart symbolizes the love that connects them all.
Jennifer’s goal is to gradually expand adoption support beyond maternity and NICU settings. Many adopted children receive care throughout the Texas Children’s system, and many of their families encounter providers unfamiliar with adoption-informed practices.
The goal of the program is long-term: to develop a replicable model of adoption-informed care that could extend to other hospitals across the country.
“Texas Children’s is uniquely positioned to create this model,” she says. “Ideally, this would become the standard of care.”
Make a Difference in Families’ Lives
Texas Children’s has long been recognized for leading pediatric and women’s health care. With the launch of the Adoption Care Program, the organization is once again redefining what it means to care for the whole patient and every kind of family.
If you want to work in a place where compassion, expertise and innovation come together to meet real human needs, Texas Children’s could be the place for you. Join a team that leads with HEART—humility, excellence, accountability, respect, and trust —and explore open positions in our Pavilion for Women and NICU today.
