In the Fall I got information from a few different adoption agencies when I attended the Wait No More conference, but the one we really wanted to check out was not taking any more families at that time. I used to work at a Christian maternity home for pregnant teens and my former boss from the maternity home now works for a Christian adoption agency so I was disappointed to hear that her agency was currently full. They only take 30 families at a time to help lesson the wait time for each family. So we continued to look at some other agencies, but then in November I got an email that they were now taking more clients. We signed up to attend an informational meeting which is the required first step. We found out that we were pregnant again the day before the informational meeting on December 4th. We decided to attend the meeting because we weren't sure when they would have another opening again. After attending the meeting we decided that this is the agency that we are going to move forward with.
I just wanted to share with you the process and keep everyone updated on where we are in the process so you know how to pray for us. Here are the steps and then estimated time frame.
√ Informational Meeting- We attended the informational meeting on December 4th. Once we decided we wanted to move forward we contacted them and they created our eadopt online profile and assigned our case manager from the agency.
√ Pre-application- We just completed our pre-application online. They will respond within 14 business days whether or not they accept us to the application phase. Pre-application sounds rather noncommittal, but this was actually pretty intense paperwork. We had to submit financials, statements of faith, and answer some very specific questions on discipline, motivations etc. We also had to send in pictures of us and our home etc. We hope to hear back before the end of January about moving onto the official application process.
Official application- If our pre-application is accepted (assuming it will be) then we will need to complete the official application along with a fee within 30 days. Once we submit then we will hear back within 14 business days of submission.
Preplacement Assessment (home study)-Once we are officially accepted we will begin our preplacement assessment also known as a home study. This will be completed within 90 days of receiving all of our documentation (physicals, background checks, etc.). This entails a home visit, interviews with us, references etc. This is also when a large portion of the adoption fee is due. The rest will be due upon placement.
Post home study meeting- This meeting is with the director of the agency and will take place within 3 weeks of the completion of the home study.
Family photo album/Trainings- After our official acceptance and completion of the home study we then complete a physical and online photo album to help tell prospective birth parents about us. Once this is completed our profile will be posted and we wait for a match. During this time there are specific trainings that we must complete.
Placement- The average wait time is about 18 months AFTER completion of the home study. This time varies and could be longer or shorter. We are not looking to adopt a special needs baby at this time so we will likely be on the longer end of that wait time. When I type this all out and think about the timeline it is rather daunting. If everything goes as planned and we fall into the typical wait time of 18 months from home study then we are looking at around February of 2017 for placement.
Finalization- This is the scariest part of this entire process for us. In the state of North Carolina the birth parents have 7 days (could be up to 10 days depending on when the paperwork is signed) to change their minds. This means we could take a baby home from the hospital and have it for a week and they change their mind and we have to give the baby back and there is nothing we can do. I'm terrified of this, I just have to trust that our agency does their job in interviewing the parents on their readiness etc. If the father is unable to be located or determined than this wait could be even longer.
Post Placement- The state of North Carolina requires a minimum of 3 post placement visits. The first one occurs 2 weeks after placement.
It's a long grueling process, but I pray that at the end we have the baby intended to be ours in our arms. We will keep you posted on our journey!
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