Planning to Adopt

[Leatherette]

Hey,

I don't have any questions or exciting news at this point, but just wanted to say "Hi" and let you all know that we are in the very beginning stages of adoption. We haven't decided between U.S. or India. We already have a 2 and a half year old boy, so we are hoping for a baby girl, but the idea of two brothers appeals to me, too. I agree with the person who said it is icky to feel like you are ordering a made-to order baby from a factory, but we'd like a child that is young enough to give our son a chance to adapt before his new brother or sister is into all of his toys, etc.

That's my story so far. Nice to read all the adoptive parent posts.

Leatherette

[LisainCalifornia]

Hi!
We adopted Emma from China after having 2 bio kids--it has been wonderful. She came home to us at 11 months old, and thrived with us. I have also thought about adopting from India too. There is a good international adoption board at www.fertilethoughts.com

There may be someone there who can give you some info about India. There is also a domestic board there if that is what you are drawn to.

Good luck,
Lisa

[steph]

just wanted to send my best wishes for your adoption journey! We adopted domestically from a fantastic agency! we brought home dd at 3 days old, our wait was short - 9 mos. from the time we started filling out paperwork, very supportive staff - for both adoptive parents and birthparents! if you're interested in them, pm me and i'll give you more info.... anyway - whatever route you choose, i believe it always ends up w/the perfect baby for your familly.... i'm constantly amazed to hear peoples experiences and how, no matter what travails (or not) there may have been, the ending is always the right one for them! best wishes!!!

p.s. - letherette, i just noticed you're in seattle - just wanted to let you know that the agency i was talking about has a local office there!!!

[EFmom]

Good luck with your adoption process. We have two adopted from China, but also considered India as well. The agency we used, WACAP (www.wacap.org), has a program in India, and they are in the Seattle area. I'll bet they have informational seminars on India from time to time if you want to check them out. There's also a good site at http://www.ichild.org/ which gives lots of info on adopting from India.

[Tigeresse]

Another waiting Mom here wishing you luck on your journey. We are adopting from China, and have just finished the authentication process on our dossier. We should be DTC (dossier to China) very soon!

I too have bio children, 3 boys, so yes, we really want a girl. All my boys want a sister too!

Our agency (Journeys of the Heart) also has a Washington office. (www.journeysoftheheart.net) and I know they have an India and a domestic program. They have been wonderful from the onset.

Best wishes and keep us posted.

[T. Elena]

Leatherette,

We are also in Seattle and in the adoption planning process. We have a 3.5 y.o. son, and are agonizing over what age child to add to our home -- we're thinking mostly about a domestic infant or a waiting child (any country) who is about a year to 18 months old, presumably with some special needs (mild physical stuff).

If you want to chat, PM me. It would be great to connect to another local family in the process!

[aboeckman]

Congrats on making the decision to adopt!

We are not so patiently waiting for the Korean government to issue our son his passport so we can be united. Spike was born in early February, and we accepted his referral at the end of April.

Our agency, Dillon International in Tulsa, OK (www.dillonadopt.com), also has an India program. I remember looking at it when we decided we just couldn't wait a few more years to hit China's minimum age for prospective adoptive parents.

Good luck!

Angela

[steph]

well heck! i was trying to keep from sounding like an advertisement for the agency we used, which is whyi suggested pm'ing me for their name. but since everyone eles has listed their angencies, i'll post mine too. we used open adoption & family services. you can check them out at www.openadopt.com


best wishes!

oh, and i made a mistake on my previous post - i said we waited 9 mos.,but really it was 7.... i was thinking about when we started filling out paperwork!

[EFmom]

I didn't mean to start anything by naming my agency. I just saw that the OP was nearby them and they have a relevant program or two. Agencies often host free informational seminars, which are a good and easy way to learn some introductory info about different countries/programs and adoption in general.

I would NOT sign with any agency on the basis of a seminar however, without doing a ton of research about them first. I didn't use my agency's India or US programs so really I can't say anything about them because within a single agency, programs can vary in quality.

[Leatherette]

Thanks for all of the responses. We have an agency already, but thanks for all of the suggestions. I'll check out some of those sites. Good to hear about the positive experiences. Now, if I can just get my husband to write the essays, we'll be getting somewhere.

L.

[EFmom]

Ooooh, those essays. You are bringing back some baaaad memories!

When we went to get our homestudy updated for our second adoption, it was so funny to read over the parts about all our interests and hobbies (pre-kids). DH was laughing with the SW and said, "Yeah, look at all the cool stuff written here--we used to be really interesting." Of course, we wouldn't trade our post-kid life for anything, but c'mon, did I really used to do a lot of antiquing? Feels like a lifetime ago!

[aboeckman]

Are the essays you're referring to your autobiographies? If so, yeah, my husband and I had tons of fun writing those -- and we're both writers!

I don't know about the rest of you, but when I read our final homestudy report, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Our social worker did read our bios and listen to our answers to her questions, right? We learned some very interesting things about ourselves from reading that homestudy. Oh well, this is the woman who asked me "how that Buddhism thing is going" when we had our individual interview.:

Angela

[Tigeresse]

Yeah, those autobiographies were a slice of heaven. We just sat down with a glass of wine and cranked 'em out one night. It's funny what you said about hobbies and interests, EFmom, because my situation was similar. It seemed like I had none unless they revolved around the kids somehow. I had to think, now what did I used to do that I maybe will have a little time for in the future???? But I also would not change a thing about my kid-centered life.

I also thought some of our AP practices might bring about some problems, but our SW and agency actually supports and recommends co-sleeping, and others like EBF never came up. Our SW did want to know how we can homeschool legally, and fortunately in IL homeschools=private school. So overall, things went well.

One thing that also helped my dh to write his essay was my offer to edit and type it. He basically wrote a long string of thoughts that I put into a cohesive form. A writer he is not.