AFTH buddies

For the autobiographies they give you a 4 page list of questions like "describe your relationship with.. (and the list begins) each other, your parents, your siblings". Describe each other. What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses, and then a ton of stuff about your future parenting plans.... None too hard - just long. We each have a lot of siblings and it wants you to describe each relationship. There was also one about describing your parents relationship with each other. Easy for DH - his were married for 50 years. Mine were divorced - so I agonized about that one!! Otherwise it was not hard - just time consuming!! For pictures - start collecting now!! Pics of you two together, and apart, with kids (nieces and nephews), doing fun stuff. Important for pics to be clear - this was hard for us - all the good ones seemed blurry! 8-10 shots is typical. Remember you will need 15 identical copies..... We printed ours on nice paper (clouds). They will show you profiles at the last meeting - you might want to ask to see them sooner!! We did one of us with Mickey mouse, one of us kayaking, one with family, one of our dog, a couple of us just the two of us, and one with DH teaching music to nephew. Read all the letters on teh web site - it will help you figure out what you want to say....... Hope all this helps. Baby just woke up - so I gotta run - HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Keep us posted!! Mega

Just had our video today at the Hazlet office and handed in our profile. Will be in the book for all the agencies by the end of next week. I was so nervous with the video I thought I was going to be sick.Still with another agency but nothing has happened in almost 3 years. Now just have to get birthparent letter to 250-280 words so we can have it posted online. Geez I need a chocolate martini!

Hi everyone... We're looking at getting started on the adoption journey and we've narrowed the agencies down to just a few including AFTH. Can some of you PM me impressions, good or bad on AFTH? We'd probably be working with the Hazlet office if we picked them. Also curious about their track record with same-sex couples... Thanks in advance! Scoob

We're trying to decide between AFTH (which is local for us), one of the adoption "factory" agencies, and possibly one of the Catholic Charity agencies. We're an older couple, at this point looking to adopt a CC child (I'm trying to get my husband to consider kids of any race, but so far he's holding firm to the idea of CC). Any input regarding how long the wait is for older couples (I'm 40s, husband 50s) with AFTH, advantages/disadvantages of AFTH vs. a larger agency, costs, etc. would be welcome. We're also hoping to adopt from a state with relatively quick bmom termination of rights (we realize that that's not necessarily the best thing for the bmom, but we have two children at home, so short travel time would be much easier on them). Thanks!

Hey Everyone!! I am soooooo excited!! :clap: We got our court date to finalize!! End of April - I am so excited I am having trouble working today!! How are all you other AFTH'ers doing out there?? Any recent placements??:D We will finalize our adoption almost a year to the day we went in the book..... for those still waiting - keep the faith and keep your chins up - it does happen!!:cheer: Mega:woohoo:

Giving this a bump - anyone out there!!?? I'd love updates on all my fellow AFTH'ers..... We finalized with our wonderful daughter 3 days to the year of going in the books, and DD will be 9 months this week.... How is everyone!!??

How are you all doing?? Any good placement stories lately?? Our daughter is now 18 months old - and is doing great. Such a fun age, seems like every day she is saying and doing new things.... We actually just submitted our paperwork for #2!! :banana: Still awaiting our home inspection and need to shoot the video and do up our 15 copies of the profile.... So, come on everyone, how is it going out there??:popcorn: Mega

Hello, We have been reading all the posts from your group on the last three pages. We are considering AFTH in NJ for a domestic mixed race infant. So, is there any reason why anyone here would not recommend AFTH for our needs? Please PM me if you want or just post response here. Thanks Jersey.mom

Hi, we started researching adoption agencies a couple of months ago. We are going to the information session for AFTH in Hazlet, NJ in October. I was hoping somebody could PM me some info on this office and agency in general. It seems like they want a lot of money up front and that makes me nervous. Any feedback, positive or negative, is greatly appreciated. Thanks

We just got word that the Hazlet office is being closed down in October... It is the only one they are closing, and I think they are making a big mistake.... We are waiting on a court date for #2, and we have had a great experience with them (hope i can say that).... Mega

[FONT=Comic Sans MS]Hello:[/FONT][FONT=Comic Sans MS][/FONT] [FONT=Comic Sans MS]I was wondering if anyone signed up with AFTH in the past few months. Curious to know if you've had a good or bad experience with this agency so far. Seems like many changes have occurred with the Hazlet facility closing, etc. [/FONT][FONT=Comic Sans MS][/FONT] [FONT=Comic Sans MS]Any feedback would be appreciated.[/FONT][FONT=Comic Sans MS][/FONT] [FONT=Comic Sans MS]Thanks![/FONT][FONT=Comic Sans MS]Devra[/FONT][FONT=Comic Sans MS][/FONT]

I am just about to sign with AFTH, I have the application and am in the process of hunting down references. Is anyone else new to the process? It would be nice to have an adoption buddy. Also, the adoption form seems to say that we need life insurance, does anyone know how much? Feel free to PM me if you would prefer.

Hi all, we're looking into AFTH (NJ office).I'd love any PM with details from anyone that went through them, we're looking into domestic adoptions.thank you!

I just wanted to reply that we sent out application in a month ago and are preparing for our first meeting. It would have been sooner but we wanted to wait to really start until after the holidays. I'm excited to start with AFTH and I hope they work out for us. We were nervous about finally going for it and choosing an agency.

I just wanted to update and share that we are printing out our profile tonight and e-mailing it for proofreading! I'm hoping to be active by next week. We will be in the CC and AA program, so we hope it's a speedy process. Anyone else from AFTH in the same boat?