Last May, hubby and I made the choice to adopt. It was almost exactly two years since we had decided to actively start trying to grow our family, and we were so ready to start a new chapter in our quest for parenthood.
Here we are, one year later. One year more hopeful, one year wiser. It's had its ups and downs. At times it's incredible, other times it's stressful.
Incredible Stuff
- Learning about adoption
- Sharing our adoption story so far
- So many new books to read!
- Meeting other hopeful adoptive parents
- Preparing our nursery (almost ready for our reveal)! Squee!
- Advocating for adoption and teaching others
- Learning from other parents
- Hearing birthfamily stories
- Connecting with other people who struggled to start their family
- Getting closer to each other as we discuss parenting
Stressful Stuff
- Adoption paperwork
- The home study
- The waiting game
- Planning for adoption expenses
- Anxiety about profile perfection
One year breakdown
May 2017
While hiking beautiful Taylor Mountain in Santa Rosa, CA, my husband and I waxed introspective over our situation. We'd reached the end to what our infertility treatments could do for us, and the next steps were either pursue IVF, continue organically, or adopt. I'm happy to say that we chose adoption (obviously). We shared our happy news with our families on Mother's Day. You can hear more about our Road to Adoption story in this radio interview.
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| Taylor Mountain Regional Park |
May 2017 - June 2017
We selected our agency and began the application process. The application was very involved and emotional, so it took us both nearly a month to get through it.
July 2017 - August 2017
We did our home study, prepared our adoption brochures and adoption profile.
September 2017
Officially paper pregnant and a waiting family!
September 2017- May 2018
We're still waiting! We have high hopes that 2018 is the year we complete our family, but the average wait time is 18 months, and we've only got 8 under our belts. So who knows?
January 2018
We announced our adoption plans to our wider group of friends and family.
March 2018
I started The Adoption Journal as a way to chronicle our family's adoption journey. In just two months, it's morphed into so much more.
May 2018
We worked hard to create a beautiful, gender neutral nursery that is ready for personal touches once our baby is home with us and we get to know each other. Cannot wait!
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| Our nursery "before" picture. Stay tuned for the reveal! |
Is there anything we would have done differently?
Not everything has been perfect, but there isn't much I would change. I would have announced our adoption a bit earlier to start our personal networking earlier. I've heard so many stories about people finding their expectant mom through a coworker, distant relative, or friend of a friend. While we we've had a few nibbles, the right situation hasn't presented itself yet, so we're still waiting for our match. I still think we need to market ourselves more, and we will probably start to do so in the near future with a Facebook page.
I also would have employed a professional to do our adoption brochure the first time, rather than spending the time and money to do it once myself, then have A Touch of LA make a far better one.
Today
Our Golden State Warriors play this evening in the NBA Western Conference against the Houston Rockets. They're down 2-3 in the series, and are facing elimination tonight in Oakland. I know that the team is preparing itself for a big night, and that they will give it all they've got in front of their home crowd. We don't have the funds to be in the building watching them, but we will be rooting for them loudly (sorry neighbors) from our comfy couch.
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| We did splurge on playoffs tickets in 2016 |
This momentous night reminds me of this Steph Curry quote I've always liked, and I think it also applies to our adoption journey. We're nervous and anxious for our big moment: the moment when we finally get to be parents. But being nervous means we're ready. And we are so ready.
Go dubs!
