Hi Michelle, I am the mother of two beautiful children. Our family was formed by adoption. We have an 11 & 5 yr old. We chose private adoption with an attorney. We researched all our options and felt that was the best for us. With both of our children the process was 6 months or less from initital attorney meeting to binging our babies home. We looked into a local agency here in the area that promotes open adoptions but it was not the right fit for us. With our oldest the birthmom did not want contact, with our 5 yr old we sent letters and photos every year on their birthday until they turned 5. Now contact is ended.

We have helped others on their journey to stat a family and it is so rewarding. If I had known when I was going though all the fertility tests and the subsequent treatments that adoption was so natural for us I would have just done it first! But all things happen for a reason and when the time is right your baby will find you. Best of luck on your journey, it might be long, it might be short, but either way it is well worth the trip!

Welcome! Thank you for sharing your story. I always love to hear about how forever families are formed...it gives me hope!

It's interesting to me that using a private attorney was actully faster...I thought it would have been the opposite. It seems the agency route is much slower, although we were told the average wait was 6 months. We have recently registered with a few more agencies to increase our profile chances.

I do believe that things happen for a reason and there is a child out there for every waiting family. Glad you joined the group!

Adoption, children, family. I also like to read, work with computers, cook, and garden.

Hello, My name is Tami and we have both a blended and adoptive family.  I have 3 children by birth, 1 child by marrige and we are in the process of adopting our youngest now.  Our adoption is a family adoption.  She is my cousin and i have know we were going to adopt the day that she was born.  Our situation is a little different because we are adopting from another state.  While it is a little more complicated it is just as rewarding.

Good luck to you on your adoption.

Hi Tami, and good luck to you as well!

Adoption, children, family. I also like to read, work with computers, cook, and garden.

Hello, My name is Sue and we have three adopted children. The youngest child is 18 months old and our finalization date is March 23!! We have been fosterparents for about 9 years. We have fostered 19 children over the years. We have only been able to adopt these three. We too did the fertilty route. What a emotional roller coater that was. Our children are 8 years old Michael and his biological sister Rachel 13 yrs old. They were 2 and 6 when we adopted them. The baby we have had right from the hospital 5 days old. Her name is Kristina. She is just adorable.

Good luck to all of you no matter what way you choose

Hi, my name is Shannon. We currently have a 2 year old who is adopted. We are also matched with a birth mother who is due on March 20th. We decided to take the agency route because they do the leg work. It is much more expensive but all the work that they do is worth it to us. We went through the home study with our first child and became eligilbe in April 2006. 5 months later we had our son. We ended up having an open adoption knowing all identifying information, and even having the birth mother put our last name on the original birth certificate. After 3 months we never heard from her and now even the agency has no idea where she is. So just because he start with an open adoption doesn't mean it will stay that way.

We were recently matched with a birth mother in January. We only waited 2 months to be matched. So agency adoptions don't take long at all. At least in our case. With our first adoption we had two days to prepare for what most people have 9 months for. But we wouldn't change a thing. This time having to wait 10 weeks feels very weird. I don't know how people go through 9 months. We do have contact with the birth mother and have had dinner with her and her family. We are planning a semi-open adoption with her.

Adoption is the best thing that has ever happened to our family. I wouldn't change a thing. People will ask if I get  upset because I never got pregnant. I tell them if I got pregnant I wouldn't have my son, so I am glad I never got pregnant. My son is the love of my life and I'm sure his soon to be brother will be the love of my life too.

Welcome, Shannon! Congratulations on your recent match...that is so exciting! It sounds like your agency is wonderful...which one are you using?

I am glad to hear of other positive experiences with agencies that advocate for open adoption. I believe it is important to keep the relationship with the BM active, even if just a little.

Good luck, and I'll keep you in my thoughts and prayers that everything goes smoothly in March!

Adoption, children, family. I also like to read, work with computers, cook, and garden.

We use adoption star. Thank you for your support.

I'll be honest, open adoption sounded like a scary word to us in the beginningl. But once we were educated, it wasn't scary at all. It actually turned out to be a great experience.

HI there - I'm Meg, a brand-new mom through open adoption. We've just had our last post-placement home visit & are waiting to hear when our court date will be.

Nice to meet you all. :)

Hi, my name is Melissa and we are the proud parents of a 2-1/2 year old gorgeous boy named, Carsyn, who we adopted through the open adoption process.  I can't imagine life without him and I'm so thankful for his birthmom and her decision to place.  Adoption is the greatest gift!  You can read our story on our website, http://adoptingbabyevans.com under the link, becoming 3. 

Thanks!

melissa