Months 6 & 7
So the summer months have come and we are almost at the 1 year mark of our fist home study. The fist because every year that we are waiting to adopt we will have to go through a home study. The first part of this is the state checks that include getting finger printed and a back ground check done. This makes sure we haven't done anything in the past year that would void out our adoption approval. Then we have to have a medical release from our doctor to make sure we are still physically okay to take care of a child. The final part is the visit and that will be happening in the up coming weeks. Our social worker from the agency will drive up to visit us. She will check in on us, make sure we haven't moved with out notifying them, and that we are still meeting the requirements. The personal benefit of this happening in August is that I get an early start on my fall cleaning, so once falls hits I can do things on the weekends other then decluttering and washing curtains. So the next blog post will cover that visit....
Now about us going national!
Since we hit the 6 month mark and haven't been picked yet we have decided to expand our options. The adoption agency we work with has offices across the country, and because of this we have the ability to advertise ourselves in all the offices. Above you see a picture of our web page. We made a small video of photo's of us, our home, and where we live. On the page we talked about who we are, talked a little about each other, and also about Winnie.
We have also decided to share one of our photo albums with a pregnancy crisis center. What is a pregnancy crisis center? I'm going to give you the nonpolitical explanation.
A pregnancy crisis center is a location that a female goes to when she finds out she is pregnant unexpectedly. At locations like this they help her understand her options, provide counseling, guide her to finical assistance, and guidance to things such as housing and healthcare. You would be surprised how many females find out they are pregnant many months in. They can be confused, scared, and wanting to explore all their options. They may know they can't care for the baby, or they don't want children of their own. Part of exploring their options is learning about open adoption and our album will be there for them to review.
The final thing we are currently doing is sharing our adoption hopes with all of you. Why? Well not only do we want our family and friends to be a part of our journey, but we also know that God has amazing ways of bringing families together. A percentage of infant adoptions happen because the adoptive parents are connected with the expected parents through someone they know. You may be at work one day and someone you talk to mentions how their cousin doesn't know what to do she just found out she has an unwanted pregnancy. Or your best friend calls you in tears lost and confused because she knows right now in her life she can't parent. Birth mothers aren't always young poor teenagers, they could be happily married couples who never wanted kids, or college students who have so much they still want to do. Because there is no cookie cutter birth mother we never know how our family will expand.
If you know someone personally or know someone who has a friend or family member who is looking for option during an unexpected pregnancy contact us. We will provide the contact information for the amazing expected mother counselor at our agency. She is one of the sweetest people we have ever met, and she will help them through this decision. Her job is to help them understand what adoption is, guide them to different counseling and health services, and help them understand only they can make that final decision.
Until next time, please keep us, our future child and their birth parents in your prayers.
