Now that we decided we were going to grow our family through adoption we had to start the process. We chose Bethany Christian Services because that is who a friend of mine recommended. We met our social worker and I immediately liked her -- honest, to the point, and non-judgemental -- my kind of gal!
I could lay out the whole process of meetings, paperwork, and home studies but the part that sticks out in my mind the most is the "openness" discussion. To me, these were some of the most difficult questions I had to answer.
For those of you whom have never gone through the adoption process, the "openness" discussion is when you talk with your social worker about the type of child you are open to accept into your family. This covers everything from age and race, to family medical history, addictions, willingness to travel, extra expenses willing to be paid, special needs, and type of adoption -- open, closed, semi-open.
At this point in the game, I just wanted a baby... any baby. My husband was a little more cautious and practical about what we could handle financially and emotionally at this time. We filled out the forms together with the idea that we just wanted a healthy baby for whom we could afford to provide the kind of life he/she deserves.
It was amazing how much our thoughts changed again after talking through different scenarios with our social worker. It was during this time that we decided we were willing to choose an open adoption...
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