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Something that is frequently discussed when it comes to infant adoption is medical history. It plays a role in many stages of the adoption process: How much are you able to know about an expectant birthmother before deciding to present or be matched? How much do you know throughout pregnancy? After birth? Each state varies when it comes to adoption. Even agencies within the same state may differ in their policies and practices. Truly every adoption situation is unique and may or may not be similar to another. After our experience with adoption and the adoption stories I've learned through our journey I wanted to share some of my thoughts regarding medical history when it comes to the adoption process: Going In With Proper Expectations It's common for hopeful adoptive parents to enter into adoption imaging a "Juno" type situation. A young teenage girl who makes healthy lifestyle choices and just can't raise a child. This is not the reality of adoption. ...
I started writing about our meet-up with some of Spear's biological family as part of his monthly update post for his 7th month of life and realized I just had WAY too much to say and it needed to be it's own blog post. Plus, it's a pretty big deal and a post that I may want to reference in the future so it's nice to have it stand alone :) In early June we met up with Mama E and three of her children as well as Spear's birth father's sister. Our adoption is considered an open adoption. Legally all that means is that we have contact after placement. There are closed adoptions which are where the adoptive family has no contact at all or often even knows who the birth family is...and then there are open adoptions which can mean anything from just having that knowledge, to having some contact, to having regular visits. Our official agreement is that we send photos and update letters to the lawyer every month until Spear is 1 and then at 18 months and then...
When Zach and I made the decision to adopt we chose to go the domestic, private adoption route (you can read about some of our reasons why here!) . Today Natasha, from Let's Be Brave , is sharing nine myths about adopting from foster care: I hear these comments all the time. Adopting from foster care is too expensive, hard, heartbreaking, etc. - fill in the blank with whatever you want. And while it’s always good to consider the challenges that will come along with any choice you’re going to make, it’s also important to be properly informed. Below are nine myths I hear all the time about why people shouldn’t adopt from foster care .
This post originally appeared on Let's Be Brave. I have carried three babies in my womb. I've experienced pregnancy and everything that comes with it. The sweet smiles from strangers, happy chatter, excitedly asked questions. I've had my belly rubbed, the sex of my children guessed, and been given enough advice to fill a book. I've also adopted a child. I've been matched with an expectant mama. I've walked around waiting and waiting for our baby to be born. I've carried the fears and concerns and anxiety around everywhere I went. Fears and concerns that are similar, in many ways, to being pregnant but without the belly to show for it. Having both been pregnant and gone through the adoption process I bring a less-than-common perspective. Most women who have experienced pregnancy won't experience adoption and it's fair to probably guess that most women who experience adoption very likely haven't experienced pregnancy. As I walked around d...
Since the day Mama E signed over her parental rights (On December 3rd!) we've been in the post placement phase of Spear's adoption. You can read what this stage of the process is all about in this post here! Even though Spear has been ours from the start, finalization truly completes the adoption process. It's when all the legal paperwork is cleared and Spear officially becomes a Parker! A judge grants the adoption as final and a new birth certificate is issued for him listing Zach and I as his parents and then he's able to also receive a social security number. All basically just technical legal things, but still a big moment for our family and one we've been looking very forward to for a LONG time! We knew finalization typically takes place roughly 6 months after birth so we haven't been stressing it or anything. We finished up everything needed from our end (which was just two post placement visits from our social worker) and were just waiting to he...
I know Zach doesn't have much of a blog presence but I love that he takes the time to write out birthday letters to each of our children on their birthdays and that he writes out his version of each of their birth stories. I know these posts are going to be SO special to each of them! You can read my version of Spear's birth story here! ***** By this point in Emily’s Journey of Parenthood you have meet me on a few occasions. My name is Zach, and if you are a frequent blog reader, then you probably know more about my life than I do. I love God, family, sports, and I am terrible at writing. Also I am not as "PC" as my wife. People are constantly looking for reasons to be offended in this day and age. Nothing I say in this entry is to offend anyone. So if you get offended, that’s on you. If you have read any of my other entries (Bday letters or birth stories), then you are well aware of my writing deficiencies. So all of you...
