Important questions

When my husband and I were approved through LDSFS, I was 25 and he was 26. I've actually seen couples at age 20 going through LDSFS. The stipulations I know of are that you both have to be temple worthy and be married for at least 2 years. We're in the state of Arizona so we actually had to be certified by the juvenile court to adopt. In other states you're approved through your social worker. We also had a tremendous amount of school debt and credit card debt while we were trying to get approved. In fact our case worker told us in the beginning that might be the one thing to hold us back. It didn't and we were approved and are now awaiting our sweet baby girl due March 7th! We also lived in a 2 bedroom, 900 square feet apartment when we were going through the process. That did not matter at all. Our case worker said all that mattered was that there was a place for the baby to sleep. Jokingly he told us even if we had just a dresser drawer to put the baby in, that's all that mattered. Don't worry too much about all that crazy stuff. When you have an initial appointment with a case worker, they'll tell you everything. Also as far as the race, in your paperwork you fill out you say what races you would be willing to accept. You'll have better luck and it may happen quicker if you're more open to more races. Best of luck to you guys. Adoption is a miracle!

My Dh is 27 and I am 25 but when we were approved we were 26and 24 We also had debt but were told that it wouldn't be a big problem. As far as race Taryn is correct you can fill out what race/s you would be willing to take but do keep in mind the more open you are to other races the quicker thinks might go for you. I would go to [url]www.itsaboutlove.org[/url] and look under adoptive parents. Find the phone # to the nearest LDSFS office to you and call them. Just set up an appointment to talk to some one and have your questions answered. My DH and I did that and we felt so much better when we started the process because we had already been somewhat educated. You can also pick up and application (just in case ;) ) Also yes there are weekly classes you are required to go to.... I think there are 6 of them. We were approved in July and now are waiting for our Sweet Daughter who will be born any day now!!! (but we are hoping at least for after Christmas :D ) Good luck! Rachel

I was 26, DH 24 when we started the process. We didn't adopt until I was 28, DH 26. So, the sooner you start, the better. It may take a while to get through the paperwork, and process, then also the 'wait' to be selected varies. You never know if you will 'make' the cut, until you ask the questions. :) It sounds as if your schooling dept is reasonable. I believe they just want to be assured that you can afford, and pay for all the expenses associated with raising a child. Good luck with everything~keep us posted! Grins, Stephanie

Wow! Thank you so much for the advice everyone. I guess there are people out there in our situation. I'll keep you posted. Thanks again, Wendy

Hi! I agree with all the above and we are also going through LDS FS. The only thing different for us is that we do not have to go through the weekly classes. It depends on where you located, but our office does not offer the weekly classes. (I am in Texas) My Sister in law lives in Utah and did go through the classes. It probably has to do with the location of the offices. Her office is only about 15 minutes away and covers a small area, my office is about 2 hours away and covers a big section of the state. Good luck! LBL

Wendy, Your school debt will most certainly not keep you from being approved. There are undergrad students who are approved for adoption, still miles away from their graduate degrees and career. You're almost there. As long as you can provide for yourselves, you're fine. On the financial statement that you are asked to provide, LDSFS wants to you to list your assets, your gross monthly income, and your monthly liabilities. During our second adoption, DH was working on his MBA, making his student loans from his previous Masters degree go into deferrment. Thus, we didn't even have to list them on our monthly liabilities. Unless you are paying on your student loans already while your DH is still in school, it won't factor in for you, either. And caseworkers will certainly see the potential earning power in your futures. Your apartment is fine, too. LDSFS main concern when doing the home visit is to make sure that the environment is safe and comfortable, and that you have some space set aside for baby. A 2 bedroom is great. As for selecting what race you would feel comfortable adopting, LDSFS doesn't feel any way about it, except that they want YOU to feel comfortable with whatever you choose. It is a highly personal decision and not one that they are going to question you on when they go through your paperwork with you. Whether or not you need to take adoption preparation classes depends on where you live. In some places with a higher concentration of adopting members, you will probably have a chapter of Families Supporting Adoption that is active and offers classes. In other areas, LDSFS doesn't offer such courses but your state may require certain kinds of preparation, such as a CPR course, an infant care class, etc. Your caseworker will guide you through these requirements. I am positive that your ages will not work against you when being considered by potential birth parents. For one thing, they are so varied and looking for such different qualities, that some are looking for a couple she can identify with and may look for those who are closer to her age while others will be looking for the more mature couple. Like someone said, there are some REALLY young couples working with LDSFS so you are truly not the youngest. Welcome to the wonderful world of adoption! Best wishes.

Hey thinkingalot! We were approved by a stringent private agency and we were both in grad school full time! Good Luck!

We're adopting through LDS and I have a question about the financial sheet in the application. If we don't have $3,000 sitting in the bank when the homestudy is done, do you think they will be understanding about that? I'm POSTIVE we will have the fee by the time we get the baby. We already paid our 1,000 fee. I'm just concerned that because we don't have that much now they won't trust that we will have it. Anyone have a comment?

If you can afford to take care of a child and pay for your schooling I see no reason why they wouldn't allow you to adopt a child. alot of people adopt children and live in an apartment. As far as your age goes I wouldn't worry about that. Theres alot of birthmothers out there who are looking for a young couple as well as birthmoms who are looking for an older couple. Birthmothers wishes vary from one to another. If you want a certain race put it down but make sure you keep yourself open to other races too. All children need a home no matter the race.

I would not worry about that. We filled out our financial page at the beginning of the process and did not have all the $ saved up yet and it wasn't questioned. I am sure you will be fine, just make sure you get the money quickly because some people do not have to wait long at all! Good luck! LBL :)

It was a small problem for us.....She indicated that they wanted to know how we intended to save the $$$$....so we gave her our plan....and it was JUST fine....