Lift off!!!!

Good evening,

As we posted previously, we went to the adoption agency informational meeting last night (Monday).  We walked in and honestly I thought we might be in for trouble.  The room was the size of a small dining room with an actual dining room table in the center.  It was stuffy and warm and the meeting hadn't even started yet!  Anyone that knows Becky and I know that we hate stuffy humidity and it was real stuffy in there.  The office was nicely furnished but small.  It had a very intimate feel to it.  The lady that greeted us was very nice and she pointed out the cookies and beverages available for the taking.  I kept an eye on the cookies as I walked by but I was able to resist the temptation.  We were the third couple to sit down (on the real wooden dining room chairs, just like every one's parents have).  The other couples were nice and we traded some small talk.  When it was all said and done, there were four couples, one single gal and one single guy.  Oh, also, one of the other couples felt cold so they felt free to turn the fan that was pointed at the table the other direction.  I loved that.... 

The meeting started with one of the ladies who runs the agency.  She is also one of two adoptive parent counselors/placement workers.  She was very nice and she spoke about her background and and the background of the agency.  She talked about the overall process and how adoption generally works.  She introduced the next speaker who was an adoption attorney.

The attorney was an older gal and she had kind of a "tell it like it is" vibe.  She seemed honest and sincere in what she said.  She explained the difference between the different types of adoption agencies and she gave us a list of pros and cons for each.  She also explained how the legal side of adoption works.  She told a couple of funny (I didn't really laugh because I am something of a comedy snob) stories about past adoptions she has been involved in.  I did extend the courtesy of a fake laugh as it would be obvious I wasn't laughing in such a small room.  Anyway, so attorney gal finished up and re-introduced original case worker gal.

She came back on the scene and went into the real juicy stuff like details of the process, the steps involved, the time it takes to do everything and finally, the price tag.  She explained that last year they placed 63 infants within the state and four percent of those were interrupted.  Interrupted means that after placement or close to placement, the birth mother decides to keep the baby.  While that would be a really tough situation for any couple waiting for that baby, four percent is actually pretty low.  She talked about the average time for placement which was 20 months.  20 months seems like a long time but in adoption speak, that ain't too shabby.  We have researched agencies that average closer to two and three years for placement!  Finally, she talked about the prices.  We were pleasantly surprised.  The average cost of their adoptions for an infant was about 20 thousand dollars.  So, original case worker gal finished up and introduced one of two gals that goes out and counsels and works with birth mothers.

Birth mother gal comes out and talks about the birth mothers and how they feel during the process.  She talked about all they do for the women and how much they make themselves available to the women for counseling or just questions.  She explained how the birth mothers select a couple and how the process wraps up with leaving the hospital after delivery.  By the way, almost all of the infants adopted are taken home directly from the hospital.  It is very rare that it happens otherwise, which is nice.

Birth mother gal finishes up and fields a few questions from the "chilly willies" in the corner who turned the fan away.  She gets into some more details on placement and talks about what it takes to start the process if we chose to do so.  No one turned in their application while we were there and we didn't either.

We left and drove the 45 minutes home.  We talked about how much we liked the people that spoke and how much we liked the small staff working there.  It is really nice that there are only a couple of people that handle all of the birth mothers.  It made us feel like they really get to know each mother and they really get to know each adoptive couple.  The tiny, stuffy dinning room didn't impress me.  The wooden chair that may or may not have wobbled a bit when I plopped down on it didn't please me.  My wife mentioning to me that the backs of her knees were really sweaty, didn't comfort me.  The fact that I was given the opportunity to enjoy a free cookie did please me.  Also, I forgot to mention I also enjoyed a cold Pepsi...on them!  Alright!

Anyway, to stop this twisty and sometimes irrelevant post, I will say that we have found our winner.  Ladies and gentlemen....we have submitted our initial application.  Step one is complete.

We have posted this before but we will never grow tired of saying thank you for your support and thank you for taking time out of your busy lives to read about ours.  The experience wouldn't be the same without the network of family and friends we count on every day for encouragement and positive energy.

Please keep checking our cute little blog.  We are going to keep posting.  Upcoming titles include "Who is Becky....really?" and "Justin's life,,,the cliff notes".

Stay classy.....blog readers.

Thanks again.

J & B