Tag Archives: adoption process

Adoption Loss

Throughout the adoption process, when people heard that we were adopting they automatically looked at us like we were defective. They would ask if we had tried hormones, in-vitro, or if my husband was not able to make babies. There are no biological reasons why we went the adoption route. The choice to adopt was just that for us, a choice. We made a conscious choice to prevent ourselves from getting pregnant; we made the choice to adopt as a couple from the beginning of our marriage. You would be surprised at how differently families that adopt are treated compared … Continue reading →

Choose your References Carefully

There are some things in the adoption application that need more consideration than others. One of those things is your references. You and your spouse need to sit and make a list of your friends. Look at the list and give consideration to any marital problems, work problems or any recent disagreements that you have had with that friend. I mention this because of a problem that we encountered with one of our references. The agency sends out request to the people you list, we used friends from work and our personal lives. In the letter from the agency they … Continue reading →

We Finally Found an Adoption Agency

So after we came out of the shock of the business aspect of adoption, and it is a huge business, we finally found the type of agency we were looking for. The agency we used was Homes of Saint Mark located in Houston. We live in Dallas and Houston is about 4 hours away but they did not treat it like a way to make money. Homes of Saint Mark placed infants that were given up, they placed children from CPS, they also matched birth moms who want to give their babies up through private adoption. We thought we were … Continue reading →

April Fools: Three Things You Thought You Knew About Adoption

Posted on by

There are some things that “everybody knows” about adoption. This “knowledge” is so well-known, of course, that facts and first-person testimonies, even the evidence of one’s own eyes, apparently aren’t effective. One couple was showing off their new baby, whom they had adopted at birth here in the U.S., at at a large family-and-friends picnic last summer. When the new parents told the story of their recent adoption, another guest asserted “Well-Known Fact Number One” confidently: “That’s impossible. There are no babies to adopt in the United States.” April Fools! The truth: In the U.S., in-country adoptions outnumbered international adoptions … Continue reading →

The Fight for Isaiah

Posted on by

We were well on our way to adopting our oldest four boys in early July, 2004. We had the goodbye visit with their birth mother just before Christmas, so we had not seen her in over six months. Caleb was 18 months old and for some funny reason, we had started saying things like we had lost our baby. We had even told our adoption agency and the state that we might be willing to take another child. It was not so much an intention as it was our attitude. One morning, the phone rang and Nancy answered it. She … Continue reading →

Types of Adoption Part Three: International Adoption

International adoption varies even more widely than domestic adoption. There are many countries which place children for adoption in other countries (primarily in the U.S., but also in Europe and Australia). Countries differ in the children available for adoption, the criteria set for adopting parents the fees involved, and the adoption process and timetable. Countries vary in the age and gender of children available, whether sibling groups are available, whether the children have been in orphanages or foster care, caregiver ratio and caregiving style, what medical care and education the children have had, and whether any medical or social history … Continue reading →

Whose “Job” Is Your Adoption?

The one thing we all know is true about international adoption is that there is a lot of paperwork. The compilation of the dossier is usually a huge job in itself – often taking several months. There are calls to make, emails to send, documents to obtain, forms to fill out, and the list goes on. As all of this work begins, someone obviously has to take care of it. While I am confident that there are some couples who manage to evenly divide the “job” that is adoption, it seems to be fairly rare. Instead, the bulk of the … Continue reading →

Understanding The Adoption Process

Before I get much further into searching for a biological parent or searching for a biological child, it’s important to understand how the adoption process works and how it is recorded. It’s important to start any search with a basic knowledge of how you came to be where you are today. It’s also important to understand words and terminology used by the many individuals that you will be requesting help from during your search. Several weeks ago, I wrote a helpful blog with glossary terms that are exactly these terms I am speaking of. Typically an agency or independent adoption … Continue reading →

Adopting from China

Country Basics China is the largest country in Asia – it is only slightly smaller than the United States. The climate is very diverse, ranging from tropical to the south and subarctic temperatures to the north. The population of China is well over 1.3 Billion. What Are The Children Like? The children are beautiful with olive skin and beautiful almond-shaped eyes. There are children of all ages waiting for homes. There are a number of infants and toddlers and so often the older children are overlooked. Most of the children are girls, but there are also many boys who need … Continue reading →

Steps in International Adoption – Part 3

Your last group of steps! In-Country Process Now comes more waiting – at least for you. Your agency and their staff in your country will be working hard to complete the legal process required to bring your child home. Your agency should give you an idea of how much time to expect this to take. Some countries only take a few months, others are closer to nine months. Remember also that sometimes things go wrong and your case may take longer than anyone anticipated. While you are waiting is a good time to begin preparing for your child – as … Continue reading →