Home Study 1.2

OK. So for those of you playing along at home, here's a recap:

• We signed with an agency.
• We had a home study.
• We debated if we made the right agency choice.
• We debated some more. 
• We changed agencies.

So that brings you up to date. And now, we are starting the home study process over with our new agency, Special Children.

First, I have to tell you that our social worker is fantastic. All that angst that I had about whether we made the right decision or not is totally gone. She put us at ease with her professionalism and calm demeanor. We didn't feel like we were being interrogated or judged in any way, although, let's face it, we ARE being judged about whether we can adopt or not.

We are also thrilled with her experience. She is an adoptive mom of children from Korea, so she can speak from experience on both sides of the interaction. She's also a bit conservative (in terms of her risk in evaluating referrals) which matches our comfort level so we really trust her judgement. It's so vital to have someone you trust to guide you through all this!

Actually, all the staff at Special Children are adoptive parents. We love it!

The home study meeting itself was fine. Special Children requires 2 meetings, so we are now halfway done! The meeting lasted about 2 1/2 hours and there were no big surprises on the questions she asked. It was shockingly normal. Like getting to know a new friend...a bit more in-depth conversations than you would have with someone from the office, but the "getting to know you" type questions like how we met, where we were raised, and what our life is like together.

Our next meeting is in 4 weeks. In the meanwhile we are working on paperwork and completing our parent training hours. At this rate, our home study should be completed mid-August.

Woohoo!