Welcome back to Taylor Talks!
Alright, so I couldn't wait to share the news that I hinted at in yesterday's post... I need to share where my adoption journey has taken me lately!
Alright, so I couldn't wait to share the news that I hinted at in yesterday's post... I need to share where my adoption journey has taken me lately!
I'm so close to finishing!! Yesterday morning, I was able to further myself in the adoption process by completing my interview for the home study. The process had kind of been on hold because of the Coronavirus situation; the home study usually consists of having someone from the agency come to the home to see the house, speak with all members of the family, and interview the prospective adoptive parents. With everyone stuck at home due to the pandemic, this obviously couldn't happen. Last week though, I was asked about doing the interview over video chat, so I jumped at the chance to move ahead in the process!
The interview went incredibly well! I felt so comfortable and was able to talk about myself, my family, and my life. Even though I haven't met her in person, Amy, who did my interview, put me right at ease. I think the only thing reminding us that we were stuck in our own homes was the occasional technical glitch; I don't think we would have frozen if talking in person haha.
So there's still a few more steps to finishing the home study. Amy will need to come see the house still (hopefully soon, assuming this pandemic is getting better) and once I'm able to do things normally outside of the house I have to take care of the last few requirements (finger printing, updated physical, etc.). Overall though, I'm so much closer to the end of the home study process than the beginning. It's insanely exciting!
I have a binder full of all things adoption; home study application, training certificates, and more are stuck in protective pockets to keep me organized. At the beginning of this process, everything was labeled with a yellow tab. Yellow meant that I still had to complete that paperwork. As I completed each requirement, I switched to a red tab to show that it was done. Little by little, more red lined the side of the binder than yellow, but now I'm actually down to the last three "to do" pockets! As soon as life really goes back to normal, I can knock out those few things and be finished with the home study. It's incredible to see how far I've come in the process (and you can't even tell from this picture just how many pages are in each pocket... this application is insanely long and thorough, and based on Amy's reaction to my application, I'm pretty sure I wrote more than most people do haha).
Alright, so I'm nearing the end of my home study... now what?
Once the home study is finalized, it means that I'm legally allowed to adopt. The next step in the adoption process would be to actually match with a child.
Okay, but what does that mean? How do you match with a child?
At this point in the process, many people might choose to turn to an adoption agency. These big companies have tons of prospective adoptive families waiting for children, and they also have numerous women (and their significant others) come to them when they want to place their child up for adoption. Using an adoption agency is probably the easiest way to go about adopting a baby, but it is by far the most expensive way.
For this reason, I'm hoping to avoid using a huge agency. I'd rather save my money for actually parenting, rather than putting it all out up front just to become a mother. So instead, I'm taking to social media and networking.
Amy suggested that I start sharing my information now, even though the home study isn't quite complete yet. As a single woman adopting, it can potentially increase my wait time to find a child. The fact that I'm looking to specifically adopt a baby girl means that my wait time will be longer as it is. So I'll need as much help as possible to share my story and let people all over know that I'm looking to adopt.
You never know how a match can come about... a co-worker might have a friend who has a cousin with a neighbor who wants to put her baby up for adoption. The mailman's sister might have a client whose friend wants to put her baby up for adoption. You, a reader of Taylor Talks, might have a child whose teacher has a brother whose barber and girlfriend want to place their baby up for adoption. I know, I know, I'm getting carried away, but the point is that you just never know where a connection will occur.
So I started a Facebook page a while back to keep family and friends up to date with my adoption journey. I've now also created a website, Dreaming of a Daughter, to serve as an online profile, detailing my life as much as possible (okay, probably more than necessary, but I'd rather give too much information than not enough) so that prospective birth parents can learn about me. My goal is to share these two sites with as many people as possible so that once my home study is completed, someone may be able to help me connect with the woman carrying my future child.
The interview went incredibly well! I felt so comfortable and was able to talk about myself, my family, and my life. Even though I haven't met her in person, Amy, who did my interview, put me right at ease. I think the only thing reminding us that we were stuck in our own homes was the occasional technical glitch; I don't think we would have frozen if talking in person haha.
So there's still a few more steps to finishing the home study. Amy will need to come see the house still (hopefully soon, assuming this pandemic is getting better) and once I'm able to do things normally outside of the house I have to take care of the last few requirements (finger printing, updated physical, etc.). Overall though, I'm so much closer to the end of the home study process than the beginning. It's insanely exciting!
I have a binder full of all things adoption; home study application, training certificates, and more are stuck in protective pockets to keep me organized. At the beginning of this process, everything was labeled with a yellow tab. Yellow meant that I still had to complete that paperwork. As I completed each requirement, I switched to a red tab to show that it was done. Little by little, more red lined the side of the binder than yellow, but now I'm actually down to the last three "to do" pockets! As soon as life really goes back to normal, I can knock out those few things and be finished with the home study. It's incredible to see how far I've come in the process (and you can't even tell from this picture just how many pages are in each pocket... this application is insanely long and thorough, and based on Amy's reaction to my application, I'm pretty sure I wrote more than most people do haha).
Alright, so I'm nearing the end of my home study... now what?
Once the home study is finalized, it means that I'm legally allowed to adopt. The next step in the adoption process would be to actually match with a child.
Okay, but what does that mean? How do you match with a child?
At this point in the process, many people might choose to turn to an adoption agency. These big companies have tons of prospective adoptive families waiting for children, and they also have numerous women (and their significant others) come to them when they want to place their child up for adoption. Using an adoption agency is probably the easiest way to go about adopting a baby, but it is by far the most expensive way.
For this reason, I'm hoping to avoid using a huge agency. I'd rather save my money for actually parenting, rather than putting it all out up front just to become a mother. So instead, I'm taking to social media and networking.
Amy suggested that I start sharing my information now, even though the home study isn't quite complete yet. As a single woman adopting, it can potentially increase my wait time to find a child. The fact that I'm looking to specifically adopt a baby girl means that my wait time will be longer as it is. So I'll need as much help as possible to share my story and let people all over know that I'm looking to adopt.
You never know how a match can come about... a co-worker might have a friend who has a cousin with a neighbor who wants to put her baby up for adoption. The mailman's sister might have a client whose friend wants to put her baby up for adoption. You, a reader of Taylor Talks, might have a child whose teacher has a brother whose barber and girlfriend want to place their baby up for adoption. I know, I know, I'm getting carried away, but the point is that you just never know where a connection will occur.
So I started a Facebook page a while back to keep family and friends up to date with my adoption journey. I've now also created a website, Dreaming of a Daughter, to serve as an online profile, detailing my life as much as possible (okay, probably more than necessary, but I'd rather give too much information than not enough) so that prospective birth parents can learn about me. My goal is to share these two sites with as many people as possible so that once my home study is completed, someone may be able to help me connect with the woman carrying my future child.
Please feel free to check out my Facebook page and website. I can also be reached via email if prospective birth parents would like to chat. I'd love it if you could share it with friends and family, and remember me in the chance that you learn of someone looking to put their baby up for adoption. There's no such thing as oversharing in this case; the more people who can help me, the better.
If you have any questions about what I've gone through with the home study process, I'd be happy to share. Just comment below or send me a message!
I'd also love to recommend Amy's agency, Connecting Hearts, based here in Central Florida. If you or someone you know is looking to adopt, please look into her agency. Amy was highly recommended to me when I was looking for an agency, and though we haven't met in person yet, I've already seen why. She's been absolutely wonderful, answering my thousands of emails with questions and walking me through this whole process. She's great at what she does!
Just remember, I'm dreaming of a daughter, and cannot wait to see those dreams come true!
Thanks for reading!
- Taylor
If you have any questions about what I've gone through with the home study process, I'd be happy to share. Just comment below or send me a message!
I'd also love to recommend Amy's agency, Connecting Hearts, based here in Central Florida. If you or someone you know is looking to adopt, please look into her agency. Amy was highly recommended to me when I was looking for an agency, and though we haven't met in person yet, I've already seen why. She's been absolutely wonderful, answering my thousands of emails with questions and walking me through this whole process. She's great at what she does!
Just remember, I'm dreaming of a daughter, and cannot wait to see those dreams come true!
Thanks for reading!
- Taylor
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