Starting the journey!

It truly seems like just yesterday we were starting the journey to adopt Nate...and here we are, almost 2 years later- starting the journey to our second child! We are so excited. We are anxious to complete our family but also because we know what a wonderful brother Nate will make.

So, we are in for another journey. In the world of adoption- anything goes... so our belts are buckled and we are settling in for a potentially bumpy ride (though a smooth one wouldn't hurt either!). Here is how our domestic adoption will work. This is a picture of our journey to come (thumbnail sketch only)

1. We did all the research on adoption and decided on an open or closed (birthmother choice) domestic adoption.
2. We chose a facilitator agency (25 years in the business) that came highly recommended and is reputable. Therefore, our agency will match us with the birth mother and then we will hire an attorney separately to terminate parental rights and finalize our adoption.
3. We have signed with our agency and completed our updated home study. We are completing our profile and letter to birthmother.
4. We anticipate being completed with our profile and will be ready to be shown to birthmothers by the end of this month.
5. Here's how matching with a birth mother works: a birth mother has specific qualities they are looking for in an adoptive family. Our agency working with the birth mothers will only send profiles to birth mothers where there is a 100% match. Meaning, what we as adoptive parents are all about is what the birth mother is comfortable with and vice versa. Once the bith mother selects you from your profile, you either meet in person or have a confidential phone conference. From there are decision is made if the match is right for everyone involved. Typically, you are matched with a birth mother in her 5th-8th month of pregnancy. However, there are some instances where a baby can be born at a hospital and you have to go immediately. A birth mother can live in any of the 50 states.
6. Once there is a match the level of contact with the birth mother will be up to us and her. We hope she will be open to weekly calls and allow us the opportunity to be present for the delivery. This varies by state but we should be able to take custody of the baby 72 hours after his or her birth. Then typically we would have to remain in that state for about a week before bringing our little bundle home.
7. The wait for a match could be anywhere from 3-18 months with most families matching within 12 months. If all goes smoothly, we expect to have our baby home sometime early to mid next year.

Stay tuned for updates! Once our profile is finished and we are ready to be shown to birth mothers, we PRAY and HOPE for a perfect match! Our sweet son or daughter may even be waiting for us now! It warms my heart just thinking about the whole process. Adoption is our blessing and we are so grateful to be able to take this journey once more. . .