Okay, we're officially "in the pool," but you may be wondering: what does that really mean?Open Adoption and Family Services has a pool of families that are waiting to adopt. It's not first in, first out, it's whoever fits best. Right now, as we're entering the pool, there are just under 40 families. It sounds like a big number, but it's not too bad. Last year, the agency handled 57 adoptions, so the odds of us adopting within a year are decent. When someone approaches the agency and wants to have their child adopted a counselor talks with them about their situation, and they are presented with family introduction letters from the families that are compatible with that situation. (That "situation" includes a large number of factors, including drug and alcohol use during pregnancy, family ethnicity, and the age of the child.) From those, they choose a family they would like to know more about. So, being in the pool means that we are now one of the families that people can choose. How long will it take? Who knows? Honestly, after the big push at the end to get all the paperwork sorted out and completed and dropped off here and mailed there (and don't forget big, fatty checks screaming out of our bank account like bats out of hell), I'm content to wait at least a little bit. The definition of "a little bit" will certainly change as time passes, but let's just go with "not until we catch our breath" for right now.
Watch. In less than a month I'll be getting itchy. :)
2 comments:
That is so exciting!
So do you guys have to be ready at a moment's notice? Like "Hey Urn how are you OH HERE'S A BABY K BYE"? Or do you get more head's up?
It all depends on the situation. Sometimes, the agency gets a call from the hospital- "we have a woman here who just gave birth and she'd like to give the child up for adoption," and sometimes they hear from someone who's 4 or 5 months along.
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