Adopting from foster care has its many challenges; however, it can be a rewarding experience for both you and the child or children that you end up adopting. My husband and I were so glad to have the adoption finally finalized and finished.
The process started with nine weeks of classes that discussed the types of children in foster homes, the types of adoption, the different situations the kids may have faced, and also the process of adopting. I remember getting this big booklet of information and a thick stack of papers for my husband and me to fill out. I must say that it was quite overwhelming at first to see all the information that we needed to compile. We had to get phone records, septic tank inspections, medical history, and home documents just to name a few. Of course after seeing all this, we felt overwhelmed and a bit violated.
Lately we have been enjoying our life without the social workers darting in for home visits once a month; however, lately my husband and I have been discussing adopting a second child from foster care. This time around we would like to adopt a boy no older than 7 years old. We are trying to mentally prepare ourselves for the home study update visits and of course the bombardment again.
We have discussed this with our daughter and she is excited about the possibility of being a big sister. She currently is the only child, and I am sure she gets lonely from time to time. She likes the idea of helping other kids who are hoping to get adopted just like she was. She has said to me on numerous occasions, “When do you think that I could get a little brother or sister?”
Now the question is, “When should we start?” We are thinking around the first of the year would be a good time to update our information. We know that the process will take at least two months for us to be reactivated in the system. In the past, we have typically been searching for children in and out-of-state, but we have learned through experience that we would like to stay in our own state. In the past, we have been matched within three months of getting our home study approved. We are hoping for the same this time.
Too often when you are trying to do something and are excited about it, it takes a long time. So we are realistically hoping that by next Christmas, we should have a placement. That will give us a whole year to get everything together and be ready for the new journey that our family will embark upon. Having our daughter and seeing the changes that she has made and the situation that she has came from, has really opened our eyes to wanting to help more children. We always said that we wanted to have three kids, not knowing that two of them would be from foster care. So here we are ready to adopt again!
