It’s been a few months since I've last posted and people are
beginning to ask again how the adoption process is going. In a word – slowly. And it’s not due to any problems with our
home study agency or our placing agency; it’s a matter of timing – birthdays, holidays,
busy seasons and whatnot. But now we’re
back on track and getting things accomplished.
During the past few months, Sam and I have completed three
of the four required interviews for our home study. As you know, the first one wasn't nearly as
catastrophic as I was envisioning it to be.
The other two interviews were as equally uneventful. Stephanie, our case worker, met with me and
Sam individually. She asked questions
about our childhood, our parenting styles, our values and beliefs, how we met,
what is our reason for adopting, etc.
She even asked what we thought our spouse’s weakness was. Sam’s response: “Her arms.”
So yes, it’s also her chance to see what our personalities are like in a
relaxed environment. Thankfully, she’s as laid back as we are and also has a sense of humor. Our goal is to complete our final interview
during February and hopefully have the rough draft sent to our placing agency
for review at the end of February.
Meanwhile, Sam and I have to complete our 10 credit hours of
online education and get CPR certified.
The online courses go over topics like learning to recognize signs of
grieving and loss in your adopted child, especially one that may be older and
has been adopted internationally; learning to recognize attachment disorder,
which can be common in children that have been in many foster homes and haven’t
learned the importance of attaching to a parent; what to expect when becoming a
trans-racial family; and addressing medical issues for international
adoption. After reviewing each topic, we
are tested online and given a certificate of completion, which will be included
in our home study and our dossier packet.
We also have to be CPR certified, which will be a good review since the
last time I went through CPR training was when I was in swimming lessons as a
kid.
Sam and I went to get fingerprinted for our State and FBI
background checks, and two out of the three of us have completed our
physicals. Ahem, Sam, anytime you want to get that done would be great. So that’s where we’re at right now. After we get our home study complete, the
next step will be submitting an I-800 form, which will explained more in a
future blog.
As always, you can ask us anything about the adoption process. This is exciting for us, so we’re happy to
talk about it! And if you’re interested in
contributing to our fund-raiser, please visit www.gofundme.com/schmitzfamily. Any more updates, I’ll be sure to let you
know!
