Teena & Joe

oh, congratulations!!!! I can't wait to go to the gallery to see the pic!!!

Oh, congrats, Adam and Beth! That is wonderful news!!!

Personally, I find that article offensive on so many levels that I can't even put my thoughts into words. It seems to me that the author is trying to stir people up and get attention.

Adam, your Siena is gorgeous! (now, how do you post pics in your reply???) Goldens are the most wonderful creatures. our three boys are so much fun. Elizabeth, thanks again for the advice. Very good point about the rest of the things that a birthparent might not have! I, too, thought that agency's comment was really odd. heck, I've been going through infertility treatments for more than three years, but I enjoy seeing photos of other people's kids, despite not having one myself! I think I need to revise those pages I've been working on. But that's okay - it's lots of fun to fiddle with our photos and rework the text.

Cathy, I'm with you! We have three golden retrievers and one cat. So we're definitely in the 'got both' camp! Elizabeth, thanks for those great links. I am in the middle of doing the first draft of my profile so your info is much appreciated. Funny that I've seen a couple different schools of thought on the wedding pic issue. Our home study agency says to put one or two in the profile because many birthparents are looking for an all-american family and wedding pics are a natural part of that package. Then another friend who recently adopted was told by her agency to not put in any wedding pics because oftentimes the birth mother isn't married and it makes her sad to see what she doesn't have. (Not my opinion there, just what my friend's agency told her!) But then I could definitely see the point of not putting in wedding pics if they look outdated. Those puffy sleeves and headbands are, um, interesting! My wedding pics are four years old and they don't look dated - yet! So I'm debating whether or not to include one...

The home study agency we've chosen told me to ask Abrazo if an FBI Identification Record Request is needed. She says she needs one for her other Texas adoptive couples (but she hasn't worked specifically with Abrazo before.) We are in Kentucky. We're getting the KY criminal checks and we're getting criminal checks for the previous 10 years when we lived in California. Do I need to order the FBI check? Thanks!

Thanks so much for that info. I really appreciate it! I'm guessing I'll find out lots more at orientation. I can't wait!

I don't know if this question has been asked, but I noticed that on our application there was an asterik saying that prenatal/birthing/medical expenses weren't covered by the adoption cost estimate. I understand that these are case specific, but is there typically a huge amount that we need to save in order to cover these costs? Or are these costs sometimes covered by Medicare or insurance? I was hoping to get some sort of idea of the cost so that we can start saving (aka, me not spending money unnecessarily when I should be saving!!!) Thanks!

Thanks, Elizabeth! And thanks, Adam. Great suggestion.

Teena, The best thing to do is be honest. We do not currently belong to a church in our area and put n/a because that is the truth for us at this time. This does not mean we won't belong to a church in the future, but at this time we do not. We were invited to orientation, so I assume our answer did not hurt us. Cathy Thanks, Cathy. I can only be 100% honest in my answers and it's good to know that lack of a church family at the moment won't hurt our chances to be invited to orientation.

Hi everyone - I have a question about the application. On the reference page, it asks for the name of a rabbi or clergy. We don't have one in our new area yet. Should we leave that area blank? Will that really hurt our chances to adopt? (There is a church we want to start attending, but it would be insincere to start going right now because we need to fill in a line on the application!)

Oh, good luck, Cathy! How exciting!!!