It's Official

We picked up Zachary from school Friday afternoon at 12:30 and headed off to Williamsport. Prior to our hearing our attorney showed up and was so kind to give Zachary a tour of the courtroom. He showed them where the judge would sit and the jury would sit if there was a trial and where he would sit.

Shelly and our lawyer went into the room first when the judge was ready. They had to do the termination of parental rights first and then we were called in. The judge asked myself and then Zachary a few questions and from start to finish it only took 15-20 min. We should be getting the paperwork from the court today or tomorrow.

We had a nice little get together on Saturday. Friday night Zack's grand parents came down from Watertown and left this morning.We had a few friends here from the neighborhood Saturday and I think was besides himself with excitment...since it was all about him and his new last name which he will tell you is not as many letters as what it used to be.

We found out a few weeks ago when Shelly called Ohio to check the status of child support or lack there of. They let it slip that it was an odd amount last time cause he had to pay that much to get released.

For Zachary's biological father he does not need to pay any more child support from this day forward....however, the 12400 in back support he will still need to pay on.

Hearing Date

We just received a certified letter today saying that we have a hearing September 21st in Lycoming County Court for involuntary termination of parental rights and adoption.

Austin & Audrey

One thing we have been told all along is that young caucasian children are a rare find. I look at the PA site and I never see any child under age 7 that is not severely handicaped physically or emotionally. There are national sites that have photolistings of children waiting to be adopted but how often are these files updated is anyone's guess. There are two sites that I visit quite regularly of neighboring states that seem to keep their listings updated.

So imagine the excitement when you find a little one, or two for that matter. It's an obvious longshot as even though you catch the listing on the day it is posted so do many other families who are looking for the same thing.

Austin and Audrey are siblings...1 and 2 years old and that is all I can know at the moment. The social worker who is handling their case will contact my agency and verify our homestudy then we may get a biography on the children. We will know a little about their parents and what medical issues may arise in the future based on the extended family.

Just by coincidence, Shelly's employer announced an adoption reimbursement plan yesturday.

Savannah and Charlie

We got an adoption history yesterday on the brother and sister we showed interest in. They were taken from their mother due to neglect. It's one of those scenarios where the grandmother had children at a young age, the mother started having children at a young age (pre 20's) and neither had family support in place to help raise the children....talk about breaking the cycle now. Parents never finished school beyond the 8th grade and have only worked in menial jobs.

Sad part is that there is another one due by the mother in a couple of months.

I got a call from the social worker yesterday handling the children reminding me to fax the homestudy in by Thursday....my agency did that last Friday. She also told me they were only accepting homestudies from parents who did not need a subsidy and who did not need a medical card. We're fine in both areas.

I asked how much response she had gotten concerning the children and she replied quite alot...about 110. I said , at least they will go to a good family even if its not us. She laughed and thanked me for my positive attitude about it.

How could you not.

It's an opportunity to make a difference in a child's life when you consider adopting. It's an opportunity to change their life completely for the better. Soooo even if we aren't the ones selected for whatever reason you have to believe that they will go to a great set of parents and they will have a much better life than what they have had so far in their brief time.

We also submitted interest in another set of siblings, another brother and sister aged 5 and 4 so we should get their adoption history next week.

Feeding Frenzy

We were told from the beginning that when adopting, if you are holding out for a blonde hair blue eyes, etc etc or if you are looking for an infant it will be a long wait. I told our social worker that I was looking at the photolistings online and she said not to get my hopes up too much. Those littles ones or the ones that everyone seems to be looking for go quickly.

They do.

Last Wednesday evening I saw two very adorble children online. They were siblings and ages 4 and 5. We submitted an interest form online. We try to limit our searches to our state and neighboring states simply to cut down on the amount of traveling. No more than an afternoon's drive time in distance is fine for us.

So I submitted an interest form which includes our homestudy info...social worker name, address and number and date the study was completed. I assumed they would verify the info with our agency and give a packet of more info on the children. I checked the site again Thursday and they had gotten so much response that they were limiting the time they were accepting homestudies. A call to the ocntact number gave me a message to fax a copy of the homestudy.

I called my agency and left a message. A call Friday morning confirmed that our homestudy was faxed first thing Friday morning. So Wednesday was the first day those children were posted on the interet as available and today is the final day they are accepting homestudies.

So at this point we stand a greater chance than if we not shown any interest. You don't get anywhere unless you try.

June 18, 2007

We went to see a lawyer Friday for a little boy I found. We officially started the adoption process. I guess it is safe to say that even before we had our homestudy done I had been looking. Couldn't really get anything accomplished until that was approved and completed. We don't know how long it will take but a child became available to us so we're going for it.

I'll update as we get more info.

...And Now The Wait

A couple months ago Shelly and I started a project. Now two months later, about $1500, background checks, 12 hours of orientation, very well written letters of recommendation from family and friends, and a home study we are now approved to be foster parents and adoption.

:) Talk about paperwork lol. We both had to write biographies and to list each and every place that we have lived. Because we have not been residents of PA very long we had to have criminal and child abuse clearance here and NY. Of course since you will be caring for a child they want to know everything about you and whether you are capable emotionally as well as financially and have a stable home environment.

We got to meet alot of adoptive parents through our our hours of orientation. There were some who have adopted from foreign countries like Korea, China, Russia and Guatemala and there were those who adopted locally. We got to hear all there stories. Some have been adopting for years while one or two have kept their families small.

I think the most rewarding part of the classes was the last night when we got to meet some of the children that had been adopted and they got to tell their stories.

The length of wait depends on how restrictive on the type of child you are willing to accept. The more restrictive, the longer the wait. We are willing to be foster parents but I think only in the case that the child is legally free for adoption. I think it would be too hard on all of us to get attached to a child for a period of time only to have him or her leave us. We would prefer to adopt.

Soooo, here we are. Our social worker is writing up the home study today and tomorrow and will be sending our info out to a handful of agencies.

Zack is very excited. He even went to our last orientation session with us and got to see all the children that have been adopted. He thought it was very cool. He doesn't care if he gets a bigger brother or sister or younger brother or sister. Maybe he will change his mind if he has to share his toys lol.

Whether it is an infant to a child aged up to 10 or so years and whether it is white or mixed race it makes no difference as we are opening our home :)


....and now we wait.