What's in Our Stockings? Paperwork!
We're up to our ears in paperwork, as we've now formally begun the adoption process. We kicked it off with our adoption coordinator, Ellen, by signing a contract and getting the rundown of what has to happen in the next 2 months for us to get into the pool of prospective adoptive parents.
We've got loads of paperwork to do, everything from simple employment verifications to long essays answering questions such as "How would you describe your childhood?", "What parental expectations and messages did you get?" and "How do you plan to discipline your children?"
In addition to the paperwork, we have to get fingerprinted, get physical exams, and then wrap up with a home study done by a social worker who will come and make sure home isn't dangerous for children.
I'm not too stressed about it all... I keep telling Calvin and myself that we aren't going for an "A+" here, it's just a "pass/fail" evaluation, and there's no reason why we shouldn't pass. It just takes some time and effort.
It really puts parenthood into perspective... and makes me think how easy it is for most people to become parents. I don't mind doing all this extra work, but for a straight couple who are unable to have kids the "easy way," I suppose it might get a little offensive. For us, I just see it as our chosen path to parenthood, and it's a path I couldn't even imagine 10 years ago. So I'm tremendously excited and optimistic that our lives are going to become a whole lot richer in the coming year.
Merry Christmas, everyone!
We've got loads of paperwork to do, everything from simple employment verifications to long essays answering questions such as "How would you describe your childhood?", "What parental expectations and messages did you get?" and "How do you plan to discipline your children?"
In addition to the paperwork, we have to get fingerprinted, get physical exams, and then wrap up with a home study done by a social worker who will come and make sure home isn't dangerous for children.
I'm not too stressed about it all... I keep telling Calvin and myself that we aren't going for an "A+" here, it's just a "pass/fail" evaluation, and there's no reason why we shouldn't pass. It just takes some time and effort.
It really puts parenthood into perspective... and makes me think how easy it is for most people to become parents. I don't mind doing all this extra work, but for a straight couple who are unable to have kids the "easy way," I suppose it might get a little offensive. For us, I just see it as our chosen path to parenthood, and it's a path I couldn't even imagine 10 years ago. So I'm tremendously excited and optimistic that our lives are going to become a whole lot richer in the coming year.
Merry Christmas, everyone!
posted by Shan at 1:23 PM
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