A few days ago we rescheduled the home visit portion of our home study with our social worker for this Sunday morning. We’re excited to see her and move forward in our second adoption; but having a home visit inevitably seems to dredge up a bit of nervousness on the part of adoptive parents. My husband and I are no exception. While we’re not nervous, per se, we did realize that we needed to discuss a few things before Sunday to be sure we were still on the same page. So that led to tonight’s post about conversations to have with your partner if you are adopting as part of a pair.

The... more

The home visit that is part of all home studies is the one thing that most prospective adoptive parents (paps) worry about. Those who have been through a home visit already will reassure them that it’s really nothing to worry about, but I know from personal experience that those reassurances did little to calm my anxiousness. We were supposed to have our home study update visit yesterday, but our social worker had to reschedule. I’ll be sure to update once we reschedule, but for now I thought I’d spend some time going over how you can prepare for your home study.

Getting your future child’s room ready before they come home can require some thought. The adoptive parents that I know are split down the middle about when to start getting ready. About half waited until they were very close to travel, because seeing a room all ready to go with no child in it was depressing. The other half started shopping and decorating before their official application was even submitted. They felt like the preparation helped calm their nerves and provided them with a tangible outlet... more

Looking at waiting children profiles can be heartbreaking, and I know many people avoid them because it’s too hard to see their little faces and read their stories. But many families are formed from agencies' waiting children lists and adopting a waiting child can be an amazing and rewarding way to build your family.

Waiting children are children who need homes, are paper ready to be adopted and often have mild to severe physical disabilities, emotional disorders, are of an older age or are part of a sibling set. In other words, these are the children... more

Some adoptive parents I know say that they 'just knew' where their child was. It just 'felt right' to them. I completely understand because I was drawn to Viet Nam, but deciding on where you will adopt from is not necessarily a simple process and can leave you with many more questions than you had when you started.

I began by reading the book Adoption for Dummies. It was a current edition and outlined many of the most popular programs in plain English. I was brand new to the world of adoption and this book was not over my head at all. I know it can be so overwhelming and confusing, but I can attest... more