What to Expect When We're Adopting...

Thank you for your sweet messages of congratulations in response to yesterday's post.


We're very excited and glad that you are finding joy in the news, as well. Here's a link to the profile so you can check it out for yourselves if you're interested.

We talked about what kind of information we could share with you about our adoption efforts that would be interesting for you on days when we don't have big news. Many of our family and friends have limited experience with domestic adoptions in general and much less in open adoptions. So, today we thought we'd fill everyone in on how this process works. It will be like our own version of What to Expect When You're Adopting! 

Open, Domestic, Infant Adoption

We're pursuing a domestic, open infant adoption. We chose to pursue the adoption domestically for a number of reasons but mainly because we knew there were so many children in the United States who need good families and forever homes.


Also, we wanted to be able to share details with our child about their birth families: culture, customs, language, health records, etc.  As a result the birth parents in our adoption could reside in any state in the US; which we like because we think that increases our odds of a tolerable waiting time (we'll see though, right?).

We decided that the state-managed public adoption process wasn't a good fit for our first attempt at adoption.


 Our state requires public adoptive families to foster children before they adopt; and the opportunity to adopt won't always result from every situation they could foster.  We couldn't bear the idea of fostering a child in the State's protective services and public adoption program only to have them removed from our home to be reunited with their biological families. While we would be delighted to learn that a family could be reunited, it would break our hearts to have to say "goodbye" to a child we helped raise. After so many losses in our journey toward parenthood, we both agreed our hearts just couldn't take that; especially for our first child. As a result, we're working on a private adoption utilizing a licensed adoption agency, attorneys and a nationwide search for birth parents who might like us. In theory, this also results in shorter wait and finalization times. 

We decided that, while we're open to adopting a child who is up to four-years old, we prefer to adopt a newborn infant. As you can imagine, especially those of you with children of your own, we long for the opportunity to raise our child from birth.


Although....some of you with children have told us to maybe get one that sleeps through night, or is potty trained, or is already out of the house and has a job!


All good points but this is just going to have to be one of those lessons we learn on our own! :)


 All joking aside, we are so excited about the opportunity to adopt a newborn child and to be a part of their lives from the day they are born.

Tomorrow, we'll fill you in on what we hope our Open Adoption will be like. 

As always, feel free to leave comments on the blog. 

XOXO

A New Chapter Begins!

One year ago this week, S & I embarked upon our last attempt at in vitro fertilization to begin our family. For those of you who followed our blog back then, you'll recall that it was a roller-coaster of a process with high hopes that were followed closely by disappointment. While we were sad to put this final attempt at a biological family behind us, we still had the hope of becoming parents through adoption.


Today, we're happy to announce that we have been officially activated as an "Expecting Family" with our adoption agency.  By activating, we've completed a number of hurdles in our journey through the adoption process.  Over the last year along this journey we have:


1. Interviewed dozens of adoption agencies in the United States over the phone;

2. Traveled to meet in-person with our two favorite agencies - one in California and one in Kansas;

3. Selected American Adoptions in Overland Park, Kansas (licensed in Arizona) as our adoption agency;

4. Completed state and federal criminal and child abuse background checks;

5. Had our home visited twice by our Arizona social worker;

6. Had our Home Study filed by our Arizona social worker;

7. Received word of the Court's acceptance of our Home Study;

8. Completed a print and online couple profile to market us to potential birth parents;

9. Completed a video profile to assist in marketing us to potential birth parents;

10. Paid our Activation Fee (gulp!);

11. Begun out-of-the-box projects and ways to adopt without debt

11. Received word this morning that our profile has begun widespread distribution to prospective birth parents nationwide.


To get here, many of you have had a role to play; and for that we are so eternally grateful! From lending your  testimony as a recommendation to our social worker for the home study this Spring to providing us with words and letters of encouragement along the way; to presents and tips on nursery ideas and most importantly, prayers this adoption process has been made all the more special because of your support and love for us.

THANK YOU!

Over the next several months, we'll blog daily - yes, DAILY - about our progress toward becoming parents. We'll keep you informed of the good, the bad and everything in-between and ask that you share our blog with family and friends who you think might be interested in our journey.  Also, share your comments, questions and feedback on the blog. It's a great way for our extended family and friends to participate in the discussion and our journey to becoming parents. With so many of us located all around the world, this is a great way for us to stay in touch with one another!
It's been a long, winding and sometimes bumpy ride - but we wouldn't change a thing and hope that our story can be of value to others who may be considering a similar path.


Tune in tomorrow for another update!