When we started the process of adoption we knew NOTHING, well we knew we wanted to add a child to our family. We knew nothing about the process of adoption or where to start.
We looked at several routes to adoption and ruled a few out and then tried a few. We immediately ruled out international adoption due to cost and the amount of travel that would be necessary to complete an international adoption. The first option we tried was through our county Foster to Adopt program. After three long years of falling in love with our foster children, heart break, and disappointment we decided to try another route.
We began to research domestic adoption. It seemed like the hand of God moved in our life when David was moving into a new office space and the business located across the hall from his office was an adoption consultant firm. We decided to give them a call and were even more surprised to find out we KNEW the owners of the company. They were staff members at the church we were attending. It was a strange but good coincidence.
After speaking with the consultants we decided to sign on with them. They helped to update our home study, answered all of our questions, and created our beautiful family profile in print and on DVD. Once we were adoption ready they began to notify us of potential situations. The thing I liked best about using the consultant was that our profile was sent to many adoption agencies around the nation. We were NOT financially or emotionally tied to one specific agency. The agencies that our consultant worked with waived upfront application fees and did not require large deposits to be made prior to matching. Consultants are also exposed to more potential situations than individual adoption agencies because they network with many agencies and are not only working with a small number of birth parents seeking an adoptive family.
We started the process with the consultants in late September and were adoption ready in early October. While our wait was short it seemed long because of the numerous calls we had from agencies concerning potential matches. Our hopes would raise only to be dashed a few hours or days later. In June of 2008 we decided that we were done and that our family would not grow through adoption. However, just a few short days later we were on the roller coaster again and then the next day, July 1 at 11:45 pm our daughter was placed in our arms. Our family has not been the same since. Adoption has changed our life and we could not be happier.
If we were to adopt again we would definitely use a consultant. Our consultants made the process less stressful and were with us every step of the way.
Tags: Adoption, child, growing your family, ways to adopt