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Tuesday, September 11, 2012

1st Meeting Recap

Our first meeting went very well yesterday. :) Anita is very nice and easy to talk to. I'm really glad that we hit it off well, since we will be working with her for the next several months and she is actually the one approving us as adoptive parents. She really just asked us all kinds of questions about lots of aspects of our life - what does Ryan do for a living, how supportive are our families of the adoption, why did we choose adoption in the first place, what are our goals for the future, blah blah blah. It was very much a get-to-know-you meeting. The last bit of our time together consisted of a series of questions regarding what sort of birthparent history and situation we would be ok with. A couple of these questions I knew were coming, such as "What do see your relationship with the birthmom looking like?" and "To what degree are you comfortable with alcohol or drugs being used during the pregnancy?". But then there were others that we didn't even think about, such as incarceration, family history of severe mental illness, pregnancy from rape/incest, personal or family history of congenital disease, etc. 
Umm...yeah, we hadn't talked about those possibilities and ramifications at all. So those are some questions that Ryan and I will need to work through and decide on in the coming weeks. I will say upfront that we will be keeping our decisions on these topics confidential, since we definitely want to protect the privacy of our future child and the birthparents. But I did want to share some of the things we have to think about as prospective adoptive parents. 

Our next meeting with Anita will be individual interviews in two weeks. They are each three hours long. Yup, three HOURS. Yikes. We need to have our autobiographies turned in by then. After that will be the third and final interview, which we can schedule once we have three of our books read. I know the book reading is going to be the hardest thing to finish, especially for my working man. ::sigh:: I am going to see if any of them are available as audio books, cause I think that would really help. I'd hate to have the approval set back another few months just because we haven't finished reading. 

2 comments:

  1. Denay,
    As an Adopted Child...I Am Certain That My Own Adoptive Parents Would Have Benefited A Great Deal If I Had Come To Them With Something Other Than Just The Clothes On My Back.
    There Were SO MANY Things That They Were Just Totally Unaware Of, And Unaware Of What They Were Getting Themselves In For.
    I Am So Grateful That You Have Someone To Walk You And Ryan Through This Adoption Process!! Someone That Can Help You With Answers To Any Questions You Both May Have...Instead Of Just Going It Alone.
    But I Am Really Grateful For The Fact That I Know That Whatever Decision You Make, It Will Be One That Was Made With Lots Of Prayer And Love Behind It. I am Also So Grateful That You Will ALWAYS Have Such Awesome Support From Ryan's Family As Well As Your Own.
    We Will Be Praying For You and Ryan No Matter What Decision You Make!!

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  2. Thanks for sharing! I will really love learning by watching you as you go through these things a few steps ahead of us. I love you sharing some the questions we will be asked. Would you be able to share any further info on the autobiographies? I am have been DYING to know more on that piece. The 19th is so far away for the answers. Hehe. Best of luck to you guys!

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