Adoption, take 4!

Well..as I mentioned previously we are onto the domestic list for a little while. Domestic adoption is a completely different ball game. There are a couple of kinds of domestic adoption, private and public.

Private domestic adoption:
Instead of bureaucrats and legal representatives in foreign countries who play a significant role in our adoption, domestically, the birth parents play an important role. Essentially, it is our job as prospective adoptive parents to "get the word out" and then a birth mother who is interested in making an adoption plan reviews our profile and then, if she likes us, selects us for placement. It can be an emotional roller coaster. For example, a birth mother interested in making an adoption plan may be specifically looking for adoptive parents with certain characteristics. These characteristics can include a religious preference, a certain educational level, career preference, or even a specific type of pet. So, a birth mother might have a dream of having her biological child placed with a young-ish couple with two "high energy" [read: crazy] Golden Retrievers. Perhaps, she is interested in having her child parented by a teacher or by a family in a small city. In that case, we are it! It really is about matching the birth parent (s) wish list with the prospective adoptive parents available.


Public domestic adoption:
For many this is the type of adoption they are most familiar with domestically. Each state runs their adoption programs differently. In general, a home study is required, some classes on parenting and awareness of high needs children, and an openness to foster to adopt children. The foster to adopt program is a placement program where the prospective adoptive parents foster a child they may or may not be able to adopt. We are also getting ready to participate in this program in 2009.

For our family and friends, I hope this superficial survey of domestic adoption gives you a sense of how our adoption plan has changed.

Now...onto the next phase..waiting. We have gotten pretty good at that so I am sure I will have time to regale you with stories of quality television, grad school coursework, and a rapidly growing schoolhouse!!

Looking forward to a fantastic 2009!