We've decided to go the route of private domestic adoption. For those who don't know, here is some basic information on the types of adoption:
- Domestic Private - this is done through an agency and/or attorney and is usually associated with those who want to adopt an infant; this route can take a year or more and it can be very pricey.
- Domestic Public - in our area this would be an adoption (or foster-to-adopt) through our county; these children can range in age and often you may find sibling groups in need of a home.
- Inter-Country - this is an adoption of a child from another country; based on the length of time for a match and to finalize in that country adopting an infant is rare
I'm taking an adoption class through the Adoption Academy at Capital Universityy. I've learned quite a bit there in the CORE track, however, they are not able to give out specific contacts as that would be a conflict of interest. Researching agencies, lawyers and support groups has been tough. You would think in this age of Internet it would be easier. After researching what we could and talking to a few people we did find enough information to make a choice and to feel confident and happy with that choice.We opted to go with a lawyer and do private adoption strictly through him versus using an agency instead of or in addition to him.
Now we're working through an enormous stack of paperwork which includes getting our fingerprints and clearances, a fire inspection as well as a home study and safety inspection, copies of our driving records and last but not least medical exams. All of this must be done before we can be pre-approved by the court to adopt. Once we are pre-approved we can work on our profile or life book.
The profile is like a little magazine all about us. It's for a birth mother to view so she can get an idea of what our family, values, marriage, and day-to-day lives are like. It's extensive and surprisingly difficult to write. After the writing will come the re-writing and then the addition of photos. Once it's good to go we'll print it on some glossy paper and have it bound somehow (I've not researched this yet). This will sit at our attorney's office in a set of files deemed the "waiting to be active" group.
Our lawyer works with exactly 20 adoptive families at a time. As they successfully adopt their spots are filled by the likes of us, the waiting to be active set. We're in the middle, behind the actives but a step ahead of the call-in group. This group calls each month to see if there is room for them on the active list. When space is available the one calling the most and the longest gets in, aka the squeaky wheel. This group has not put the attorney on retainer yet and if they have a life book or home study completed most likely he does not have it yet. We chose our path because sometimes a birth mother does not like her 20 options and asks for additional options. When this occurs our attorney pulls out the profiles from our 'waiting to be active' group for her to read and sometimes she choose one of those families.
We're informed and realistic on the amount of time, money, energy and stress this process will likely take. However, with that said I'm remaining positive. I may even be going beyond that into confident that we will have a new little soul in our family sooner than later.
Stay tuned.
2 comments:
Good luck!
That's awesome, Shannon. We have friends who have one biological child and recently adopted their second (very recently--he's 10 days old and they brought him home last week). I know it's been a roller coaster for them, but also very cool. Good luck with all the logistics!!
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