Catch Up on the Adoption Process...

Now that you have all been given background on how we arrived at this wonderful decision to adopt, it’s time to catch you up on where we are in the process and our thoughts and feelings as we work our way through this journey.

As I mentioned in the previous post, we decided to begin the adoption process in October of 2007. Our first move was to educate ourselves as much as possible about adoption and our options. So, we made the trip to Borders and picked up The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Adoption. The “information is power” believer that I am read the book in one afternoon (I’m totally not kidding, ask Lee). I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for more information on adoption. Anyway… by reading this book we found that we were interested in Domestic Infant Adoption, an overview of what to expect, what to look out for, and the general adoption laws in our state of Arizona. It was quite the educational afternoon!

Part of the purpose behind this blog is to educate friends and family on the truth vs. myths of adoption. Unfortunately, there are many stereotypical generalities made toward adoption and unless you have a vested reason for finding the truth most of these myths are left undisputed in our minds. I will periodically add notes on common myths into our blog as they may come up. First example: Myth #1 Adoption in real life is like the adoption horror stories you may watch in the Made for TV Movies found on some woman geared TV Channels… The truth is, that only a very very very small percentage of adoption stories end in heartbreak for the adoptive family.

So, now that we knew that we wanted a Domestic Infant Adoption it was time to look into some agencies. We sent out our feelers to a few large agencies, and, based on a recommendation from a dear friend, to a non-profit agency called Catholic Charities. Immediately the benefits of Catholic Charities were evident. First of all their responsiveness was wonderful, they were non-profit which also felt good, and they provide extensive counseling to the birthparents and adoptive families whenever needed. Our first step with them was to attend an information session. So, on December 12th we excitedly met at their offices along with several other couples to learn more about their process. Everything that they believe in was stuff that is important to Lee and I in an agency. Not to mention that the three young woman conducting the meeting (the Program Director and two of the Social Workers) were oddly familiar to me. I kept getting this feeling that I knew them from somewhere. We left the meeting knowing this was the place for us and immediately filled out the application to get the ball rolling. Later in the car I mentioned to Lee how I felt like I had known the ladies from somewhere and he said “I know you are going to think this is weird, but so do I.” This was a major sign to us that we were on the right path and in the right place.

A few days later one of the Social Workers (I will call her J for future reference) called to set up our Eligibility Interview. It was on December 26th. I was a little nervous about it, not knowing if there would be some strange reason we would be deemed ineligible. Lee as always was cool as a cucumber and was not concerned at all… I swear if I didn’t have my husband to balance my “worst case scenario” thinking, I think I would be in a nuthouse! J And as usual, Lee was right (Ughh I hate that!). It was definitely not a big deal. After determining that we are not alcoholics, druggies, convicted of any criminal activity, etc… we were told that we are as normal of a couple as can be and J did not see any reason why we wouldn’t be readily approved in their process. WOOPEEE!!!

So, the current timeline is as follows:

February 16th: Adoption Class 1
March 7th: Adoption Class 11
February – June (approx.): Home Study Process*
June/July (approx.): Certification from the Courts to adopt
July - ?: Wait to be matched with our little one/ welcome our little one into our family.

*The Home Study process includes an insane amount of paperwork, background checks, reference checks, and visits from the Social Worker to our home for an ‘inspection’ of our future child’s living space. – We luckily have a big piece of our paperwork done (thanks to the same dear friend that recommended the agency), but I am sure we are still in for much much more! J

So as you can see we’ve got a few steps down but still have a few more months of vigorous work ahead of us. We are hoping nothing happens that will delay our progress, but you never can tell in this process… all we need to know is that after all is said and done we will have a beautiful addition to our family which will start us out on yet another journey!