I got a phone call today. It was from a very sweet lady named Linda from Homes 4 Good! I wasn't sure what I expected her to say, but I'm sure I had some sort of excitement in my voice when I said "HI"! She introduced herself and simply said "I wanted to welcome you to Homes 4 Good"! She then went on to answer pretty much every single question I've had to this point!
As of Wednesday, when we get our state number, we will be official! BUT since everything is approved and entered, they will begin looking for a placement asap! I have to admit, I got a little teary when I heard her say that! Of course, I must also be realistic about the whole thing! We are being pretty specific and ultimately want to adopt so that puts us in a very long list of parents. She explained how the next few steps will look.
1. We will be assigned a Family Specialist by Tuesday!
2. We will have our official number by Wednesday!
3. We wait for the perfect situation for both us and the child!
She said her rule of thumb is to think 9 months from now, like a pregnancy. If something happens before that time, then great! If not, then at least we have mentally prepared ourselves. She described it as a giant gray area in our lives, but that we need to keep moving on and praying!
Since we want to adopt and not just foster, there are 2 ways this could go for us. The first situation would be a straight adoption. That means that the parental rights have already been terminated and the baby is ready to be adopted. If we say YES, then our home study will be sent to the state and they will decide on three parents. Then the family specialists would go in and essentially "fight" for her couple. UGH! This usually takes about a week, from what I understand! The child in these situations are rarely under 18 months old.
The other situation woudl be legal risk foster to adopt. This means that the baby is in foster care, but the parents are making no effort to regain custody. Although it's not official, the state would place this child in the legal risk category with the anticipation of adoption. This could also take about a year or so, but we have a better chance of this placement being a younger infant. We ALSO have the chance of the child going back to his/her bio family. If we get this type of phone call, we must decide immediately, otherwise other parents will say yes and we will go back into the pool of waiting parents!
We are in a situation that has not been easy from the very beginning! I'm taking all of this and giving all of my worry and concern to God. It's not my choice. It's never been my choice. God has given us a path and free will. We have taken what He's given us and made the best of it. I'm so blessed to have a husband and family that is supportive and excited about this journey we are on. I can't believe we are finally to this point.
I got an email from ANLC the other day. It made me a bit sad because I know that if we had gone with them, we would probably already have a baby. I just can't justify going into such debt just to become parents. I wish we had the money to move forward with them, but those just were the cards we were dealt. And that's ok.
As of Wednesday, when we get our state number, we will be official! BUT since everything is approved and entered, they will begin looking for a placement asap! I have to admit, I got a little teary when I heard her say that! Of course, I must also be realistic about the whole thing! We are being pretty specific and ultimately want to adopt so that puts us in a very long list of parents. She explained how the next few steps will look.
1. We will be assigned a Family Specialist by Tuesday!
2. We will have our official number by Wednesday!
3. We wait for the perfect situation for both us and the child!
She said her rule of thumb is to think 9 months from now, like a pregnancy. If something happens before that time, then great! If not, then at least we have mentally prepared ourselves. She described it as a giant gray area in our lives, but that we need to keep moving on and praying!
Since we want to adopt and not just foster, there are 2 ways this could go for us. The first situation would be a straight adoption. That means that the parental rights have already been terminated and the baby is ready to be adopted. If we say YES, then our home study will be sent to the state and they will decide on three parents. Then the family specialists would go in and essentially "fight" for her couple. UGH! This usually takes about a week, from what I understand! The child in these situations are rarely under 18 months old.
The other situation woudl be legal risk foster to adopt. This means that the baby is in foster care, but the parents are making no effort to regain custody. Although it's not official, the state would place this child in the legal risk category with the anticipation of adoption. This could also take about a year or so, but we have a better chance of this placement being a younger infant. We ALSO have the chance of the child going back to his/her bio family. If we get this type of phone call, we must decide immediately, otherwise other parents will say yes and we will go back into the pool of waiting parents!
We are in a situation that has not been easy from the very beginning! I'm taking all of this and giving all of my worry and concern to God. It's not my choice. It's never been my choice. God has given us a path and free will. We have taken what He's given us and made the best of it. I'm so blessed to have a husband and family that is supportive and excited about this journey we are on. I can't believe we are finally to this point.
I got an email from ANLC the other day. It made me a bit sad because I know that if we had gone with them, we would probably already have a baby. I just can't justify going into such debt just to become parents. I wish we had the money to move forward with them, but those just were the cards we were dealt. And that's ok.
