Right now we are waiting. Wade and I have done everything necessary for the home study. Our social worker is waiting on background check information before writing up the official document. She had hoped to complete it by the end of April, but evidently the State of Georgia and Milwaukee County are a little slow in returning documents. When it is done and submitted to South Korea we will officially be on the waiting list for a child.
It appears that we chose a fairly easy country when it comes to paperwork. South Korea doesn’t require near the documents, forms, etc that most countries require. (In fact only the home study is needed) The home study wasn’t bad at all. Wade and I both filled out autobiographies – about 50 short answer questions ranging from our childhood, past relationships, current relationships, reasons for adopting, parenting styles, etc. Then we each met with the social worker separately to discuss our answers. She asked Wade questions about why we wanted to adopt and our relationship. She asked me about my relationships with my family, Wade’s family, and past relationships. I think she was trying to clarify information we had written so that she could write the official home study She didn’t really seem to care what our answers were.
I was actually surprised at how easy and stress-free the process turned out to be. They gave us a little grief over our reasons for adopting. Evidently most people have fertility problems and we don’t. We also didn’t have a great, concise answer for why. It’s something I have always wanted to do and Wade knew that before we were married. He’s always been open to the idea. Now we are pursuing it.
My favorite question of the process:
Social Worker (SW): What would you tell your adopted child if you got pregnant right after adopting?
Wade and I looked quizzically at each other because this is actually our plan (at least right now).
I said: You are going to be a big brother/sister (but I definitely had a puzzled look on my face and a question in my voice).
That was evidently the correct answer. She said some people at that point no longer want the adopted child. Crazy.