A mom and advocate for a bill signed into Wisconsin law this year knows it will help others who’ve lost a child.
Maggie Koch, a Green Bay resident, unfortunately experienced a stillbirth six years ago and has been advocating for the state to create a tax credit for about 300 families a year that can go through it.
Koch tells Seehafernews.com her story about her daughter, Olivia.
Maggie went for a checkup, but thought she might be getting ready to have the baby.
However, doctors told her they were having trouble finding a heartbeat.
In the ultrasound room, it was later confirmed that Olivia had no heartbeat.
“It was extremely traumatizing,” she explained. “Unfortunately, my husband wasn’t with me at the time. He was still at work. So, we waited for him to arrive and then got admitted and delivered her. And spent as much time as we could with our family with her after delivery.”
She said it was hard to personally move on from what happened, but it also affects others.
“Think about the ripple effect of every family,” she noted. “There’s the grandparents, and the siblings, the cousins, and aunts and uncles and friends that are affected by that.”
However, a new bill sponsored by State Senator Andre Jacque and State Representative Lindee Brill of Sheboygan Falls creates a $2,000 refundable individual income tax credit for parents of a stillborn child.
That means a baby was lost at 20 weeks of gestation or later, up to the time of delivery.
The tax credit can help offset funeral costs, counseling, and other related expenses.
Koch calls it a small gesture, but still something from families.
“But it says, it means the world to also have,” she stated. “And really, the state is saying that your child does matter in Wisconsin. Your child was stillborn, but your child still matters to our state.”
Parents of stillborn children can get the tax credit by bringing in the child’s birth certificate.
Wisconsin now becomes one of the first states in the nation to offer this type of financial recognition and support to families affected by a stillbirth.
Parents, families, and anyone seeking information and resources can go to starlegacyfoundation.org.
