After this round of paperwork, we sort of feel like we've actually birthed a baby. We chipped away at this chunk of questions and it seemed to hang over our heads like a big, dark cloud. It took us longer than usually maybe because it was sandwhiched between Christmas/New Years and the three of us getting the crud - oh, and a father/daughter tooth-breaking week. (Both of them broke a tooth within days of each other.)
On Sunday at church we saw a sweet little family who has four precious little boys with their brand new baby girl. As we were visiting with them, another girl came up with her four kids - announcing her new pregnancy with #5. And then, as luck would have it, another girl came up to join the baby conversation letting us know she was pregnant with #6. An older lady overheard our conversation and said, "Wow, what's in the water in our town! EVERYONE is pregnant....you better get ready," she said in my direction. (Insert rolled eyes here.) Maybe we should take the filter off our water system. Ha!
I was truly happy for each of these women/families. Truly. But I have to say that a part of me was so discouraged to have to go home and sit for hours of paperwork, followed by hours of interviews not for a baby, but for a MAYBE BABY. All this work for a big fat posibility. I didn't feel this way the first go-round. I knew there would be one baby. I'm a couple of years older, this time and I'm just not sure if we'll be chosen. That would certainly not be the end of the world. We are so blessed to be parents. It just puzzles me how some people have such ease in planning their families and others of us have to struggle so.
May Section 4 be easier to complete than this past section.
There is so much out there I didn't even know. I inquired about a potential baby last night, a girl due in April. The lady emailed me back, but the fees were somewhere in the $25,000 range, plus travel and lodging to California. Too much for us at this point! If we were approved to adopt an African American baby this might be easier, but because we live in a verrrry white community, our social worker did not recommend it. She just thought it would be too much for a child to grow up and not look like anyone else.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I know how daunting the paperwork can be, but you can do it! I kinda wish I still had something to do at this point!