Sunday, June 6, 2010

Our Second Adoption Meeting

A few weeks after we visited Catholic Charities, we decided to visit Lutheran Family Services. A very dear college friend of mine is currently underway in their home study with Lutheran and had nothing but positive things to say about their program. Lutheran's program is very similar to CC because they are both non-profit and offer a wide range of resources for pregnant women and women with children. Here's what we learned about LFS:

1. We would have to be married 2 years before we can submit our application - no exceptions. They only allow 20 waiting families on their active list.
2. Their program is a lot bigger than CC because they are able to serve the entire state of Missouri, as opposed to just the St. Louis area.
3. They require a lot more educational seminars/training for adoptive parents than any other program we've looked at.
5. The cost is equivalent to CC.
6. The process is the same as CC - home study, birth mom letter, scrapbook etc.
7. All adoptions are "open" adoptions (as with CC). An "open" adoption means that we are required to submit pictures and letters to the agency a minimum of once a year. We do not have to share our contact information/last name with the birth mother unless we choose to. If a birth mother chooses not to have any contact with us after placement we are still required to send in the letters and pictures and the agency will hold them for the birth mother. Because it's an open adoption, we will be able to meet the birth mom and learn about her history and her story before she gives birth. Wesley and I both believe this information will be invaluable to us as our child grows. How wonderful will it be to be able to answer our child's questions about his/her birth parents.

This second meeting was a lot less overwhelming than our first meeting with CC simply because we had allowed ourselves some time to digest all the information that was given to us the first time around. I definitely know that as time goes on, Wesley and I have a greater peace and understanding of the path we are meant to take. I really feel a sense of calm about our decision to adopt and I cannot wait to welcome a new life into our family in the near future. Please keep Wesley and me in your prayers that everything will fall into place, allowing us to start our adoption process. We will hopefully have some exciting news to share in the next couple weeks that will allow us to be one step closer to starting a family!

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