Adoptive Applicant Workshop April 29th-30th

Brian and I attended the workshop in Helena with 10 other couples. We were both very anxious and I had a hard time getting to sleep on Wednesday night. When we arrived at the workshop we were greeted by friendly faces and were given a binder with lots of information in it. Both days were brimming with information and emotion. We met Adoptive parents, adopted children & adults and we were also given the opportunity to meet a Birth mother. We were also given the steps needed to continue on our Adoption journey. We have a LOT to do!!!
First we need to make appointments with a psychologist, where we will be given a MMPI test. From what I understand it is a 600 question test to make sure we are emotionally stable. Then we need to get fingerprinted for a Justice Dept. check, as well as have a Dept. of Motor Vehicles check. While we are doing all of these things we need to work on our Autobiographies. We also need to fill out our Range of Acceptance form. The Range of Acceptance form helps us determine a number of things like, what age or race we are willing to consider. The form also helps us decide several other factors, such as; what if there are congenital or physical disabilities in the Expectant Parents or the Child, or Mental Illness in the Expectant Parent and even Drug & Alcohol Use in the Expectant Parents. Sounds terrible, but it prepares us for medical issues that we may not be equipped to handle, and it gives us the opportunity to research and educate ourselves these issues. Once our Psychological testing and our Justice Dept check, Dept of Motor Vehicle checks, and our Range of Preference Sheets have been sent into the Helena office and our Home Study fee has been paid, we will begin our Home Study. We will also need to complete 4 photo albums and a "Dear Expectant Parents" Letter, all while we make sure we have the following safety requirements fulfilled; All guns and ammo locked up separately, Smoke alarms on every floor where bedrooms are located, install a Carbon monoxide detector, have a fire extinguisher, and our pets need to be immunized and of course they will be sure that our pets are good with children. Our Home Study the social worker will chat with both Brian and I together and separately. She will inspect our home to make sure we have complied with the safety requirements. Our Social worker will visit with us a couple of times and get a feel for us and prepare our Profile. We will then find out if we have been Approved. And then we wait! Sounds like a lot doesn't it, it is and we are up for it all! I will be calling to get the names of Psychologists on Monday and hopefully on Thursday or Friday we can get our fingerprints done. We do have our friends wedding on Saturday, so we may need to wait until the following week to really jump in.