Introductions...please...:)

Name Rita (alias) Age 38 State NJ How long you have been foster parenting or How long you have been in the process to become licensed. Just received license in Nov 2004 - plan to take first placement in March. How many children you have had over the years. 0 What age groups/situations your home is open to. 1-3 DO you have bio children? No Have you adopted through the foster system or Are you looking to adopt? undecied What has been your biggest blessing? Awaiting the blessings of foster care What has been your biggest complaint? none (yet) What has been your biggest support? TBD What has been your biggest heartbreak? Thanks for asking for intros - I'm new also

Name - Michelle Age - 44 State - KY How long you have been foster parenting - 2 years 3 months How many children you have had over the years - 9 What age groups/situations your home is open to - 0-13, although I do have a 16 y/o now DO you have bio children - Yes 2 sons; 20 and 17 Have you adopted through the foster system - In the process of adopting our 3 youngest ages 1, 2, 3 What has been your biggest blessing? - Watching our 1 y/o progress from just existing to actually smiling and laughing and to date 2-1/2 weeks without a seizure What has been your biggest complaint? - Lazy workers What has been your biggest support? - My family and friends. All the wonderful people on here What has been your biggest heartbreak? - Having a 16 day old baby placed with us that had been sexually abused at 8 DAYS old

Carrie (hubby is Troy.... shy about comming on forums, but a very big support for me throughout the years, and he is a natural daddy!) 27 washington We have had our now 9 mo old baby for 7 months, his 2 1/2 yr old bro and 5 yr old sis came to us a month later I am infertile (2 1/2 years of the infertility treatment route), and we planned to adopt through an agency, then through family found out about a possible relative in the state.... the baby (after months of visits and trying to adopt him) was not a relative so we lost him to his foster family, but because of him we got licensed and were soon after blessed with these three little angels who we are in the process of adopting. (well, starting the process) biggest blessing....... thier 3 little faces, I feel alive finally having them with us biggest complaint..... the loss of the baby we called corbin......... but everything happens for a reason, and these 3 are my life biggest support........ our family and friends really pulled through. They helped emotionally and also donated so much time and so many helpful things to get us started. Also, the childrens aunt and uncle have been a great help! These three happened very suddenly, we were only expecting one miracle and low and behold our 3 bedroom home is full to the brim! biggest heartbreak..... our daughter's heart is crying (her words) because she misses her other mom and dad, and the only thing we can do for her about it is love her. It is very hard not being able to fix your childs pain, and I know kind of how she feels as my bio father abandoned me at about her age. I never knew a person could love a child so deeply until I looked into thier little faces, they have my heart and they have me forever :-) Carrie

Thanks for joining us Carrie!! We look forward to getting to know you more!! God bless your precious 3!! :)

Name - Darci Age - 27 State - WA How long you have been foster parenting - almost 2 yrs How many children you have had over the years. - 4 (adopted 2, disrupted 2 prior to adoption) What age groups/situations your home is open to. - open to any age, any group as long as they will not harm our current children or pets and NO MORE RAD DO you have bio children? - nope...don't have the urge to have any either. Have you adopted through the foster system or Are you looking to adopt? - we've adopted two...daughter, age 5, was adopted at 3 and just finalized on her baby brother this past friday (he is almost 2 now, been with us since he was 5 months). Also waiting to see if we ever get another placement because we would really like to have a large family. What has been your biggest blessing? - that my son is "normal" (I hate using that word) and seeing the huge progress in my RAD daughter What has been your biggest complaint? Stupid social workers, stupid casa workers, lies, threats and being blacklisted (although we are hoping the blacklisting only goes as far as the one dshs office) What has been your biggest support? - I have had no support aside from the occasional kind word on this board. What has been your biggest heartbreak? - disrupting on the 2 kids...it wasn't anything they did...it was because of the threats from their sw and her supervisor. If we hadn't disrupted, I would have been able to adopt them in Dec. I really LOVED being mommy to 4 kids.

Name - Meghan Age - 26 (dh is 25) State - Canada How long you have been foster parenting - Almost 3 years now (June, 2002) How many children you have had over the years. - 14 so far (incl. emerg and respite; we've had 4 "long termers" - more than a few months) What age groups/situations your home is open to. - Up to age 10, up to 3 sibs, we also do emergencies and respite. DO you have bio children? - 1, he's 5 Have you adopted through the foster system - In the process of? Our current fs has been here 15 months now, and TPR trial should be in the next few months What has been your biggest blessing? - Watching how compassionate our bio has become with other children (we've had some doozies). What has been your biggest complaint? - The workers don't realize that we are NOT babysitters.... What has been your biggest support? - Other foster parents What has been your biggest heartbreak? - Sending my first fs home to a situation that I didn't believe was safe for him; fortunately I've tried to keep in contact so I know how he's doing (not well, but "stupid" isn't a reason to lose your kids, according to the Protection worker... lol)

Name Heather Age 34 State TX How long you have been foster parenting: ONE WEEK TODAY! How many children you have had over the years. 1, 19 mo T. What age groups/situations your home is open to. 6 wks to 4. DO you have bio children? No Have you adopted through the foster system or Are you looking to adopt? no What has been your biggest blessing? When T wakes up all bright eyed and smiling (after I pick him up, he starts out crying. :( ) What has been your biggest complaint? so many people to work with/meet with etc What has been your biggest support? Friends and family, and other foster mom friend from PRIDE Class What has been your biggest heartbreak? the meeting this morning with mom. had a lot of compassion for her and her situation. She was very thankful I was taking care of T and seemed so sincere.

Hi! I'm Mindy 35 almost 36 :) Indiana Been fostering for 1 year 1 month Fostered 9 children so far. 6 have gone home. 1 we've had for 1 year 10 days, and 2 for almost 8 months. We are licensed for 0-18, but prefer 0-5 Pretty open to any situation except severe disabilities and sexual abuse We have 4 bio. children girl-16, boy-15, boy-13, girl-11 haven't adopted yet Would love to adopt, Hopefully the one we've had for 1 year?? Biggest Blessing - the children!! Loved each and every one of them!!!!! Biggest Complaint- the waiting and the day to day changes with the parents!! Biggest Support- My dh and children and of course our church family Biggest heartbreak- When our first two little guys went home, I cried and cried, I couldn't even talk at the case conference b/c I was crying. Nice to meet you all. Mindy :)

Heather, again, I need to add another complaint... NOSY PEOPLE! Why does everyone want to know "why was he taken? what'd they do to him?" NUNYA BIZNESS!!!!!

Hi! I am Vickie.I am 43 dh 46.IdahoGot foster license July 2002, got first foster kids Jan 2003 (got license to adopt first dd).We've had 11 foster kids, 5 respite. None in care now.Licensed for emergency now. 0-18 prefer preschool age since we homeschool and don't want to drive in school age.3 bio children- 25, 24, 23 (7 1/2 grandkids)We have adopted 6 kids, 4 of which were our foster sibling group, another adopted out of foster system (1st adoption) and baby was a private adoption.Biggest Blessings: FamilyBiggest Complaint: Ignorant peopleBiggest Support: God and FamilyBiggest Heartbreak: Knowing what some of these kids go thru in birth homes.

Hi Vickie.. so nice to meet you! Thanks for posting!! Look forward to chatting with you more! :)

Mindy where are you in Indiana, we are in Aurora and trying to find someone to chat with....We are our foster to adopt but took some time off due to illness. lisa

Lynda 49 and single Oregon How long you have been foster parenting: Since Aug. 2002 How many children you have had over the years: 20, currently have 2 boys - 3 months and 1 week What age groups/situations your home is open to: 0 - 2 DO you have bio children? Nope - never been blessed Have you adopted through the foster system or Are you looking to adopt? Foster and foster/adopt What has been your biggest blessing? The smiles of the wee ones What has been your biggest complaint? Being lied to by a caseworker What has been your biggest support? God and my family What has been your biggest heartbreak? Being lied to by the caseworker who told me I would (97%) be able to adopt my fs, only to have him placed elsewhere Blessings to all :p

Name: Gail Age: 33 State: VA How long you have been foster parenting or How long you have been in the process to become licensed. A little over a year How many children you have had over the years. 3 What age groups/situations your home is open to. 0 - 5, but the oldest we've ever had was 3 at time of placement. DO you have bio children? No Have you adopted through the foster system or Are you looking to adopt? We'd love to adopt the 2 we have now...we just have to see how the process goes. It's been a little bit of a rollercoaster What has been your biggest blessing? Being able to help the kids...Seeing them feel safe, secure and happy makes every day worth it. What has been your biggest complaint? While we understand the process, sometimes it's hard/frustrating. There have been a couple of things that haven't seemed in the best interest of the kids. What has been your biggest support? Family. We also have great relationships with our caseworkers. What has been your biggest heartbreak? When our first placement returned to home. Because of the situation, noone thought she would return home. We knew there was always a risk, but everyone involved in the case was shocked. The worst part is when the caseworker came to pick her up and made me put her in the car. She drove away with the windows open and I could hear her screaming mommy. It was horrible.

Name: JenAge: 31State: WAHow long you have been foster parenting or How long you have been in the process to become licensed.1 1/2 yearsHow many children you have had over the years.1What age groups/situations your home is open to.0 - 7DO you have bio children?Yes, Emma-5 Kayla-4 and Abby is in heaven.Have you adopted through the foster system orAre you looking to adopt?We are only foster adopt right now and we are hoping to adopt fd who is 10 months.What has been your biggest blessing?When I saw and held our fd for the first time and then waking up in the middle of the night to feed her her first midnight feed.What has been your biggest complaint?Changing social workers so much Just when you get to know one you get anotherWhat has been your biggest support?God and our church family and our family What has been your biggest heartbreak? Meeting birthmom and seeing how young she was and how much she was hurting