Tuesday, January 4, 2011

So where do we go from here?

Happy New Year! Bethany and I are so excited for this new year and can't wait to see how Gods plan unfolds for us! 
Many of you have asked "where we go from here?" so here is a quick explanation of the process:  Now that we have final adoption approval we provide the agency with what is called a match letter. This "match letter" is a profile of Bethany and I and our story. It consists of 4 pages and has letters from us to our potential birthmother as well as pictures of us and our immediate family. This match letter is put in a book at several of the agencies locations and is provided to the birthmother.  
When a birthmother comes to the agency, she works directly with a pregnancy counselor. Once the determination is made that she wants to place her child for adoption she is presented with several match letters from families that meet her situation. (At the beginning of our process we filled out a form that outlined all the different situations that we would be open to considering regarding things such as: sex of the child, age, potential medical complications, medical considerations regarding the birthmother, heritage, etc.) Once the birthmother is presented with these letters she looks through them to find one or two families that she feels would be a good fit for her to place her child with.
After she picks a family or two the agency will call us and let us know that a birthmother would like to meet us and this is called a "match meeting." In this meeting we will get to know each other and talk about all sorts of things in order to learn about each other. After the meeting Bethany and I will talk about the meeting and see if we feel this is a good match for us. After prayerful consideration we will contact the agency again. If we have decided to continue with the match we will have several more meetings with the birthmother. Over these meetings we will determine several things regarding the pregnancy process and the adoption plan. It's important to also point out that the birthmother has the same option to continue with us or to choose another family as well.
The other possibility is what is called a "hospital call." This happens when a mother goes to the hospital, delivers, and makes the determination there that she wishes to place her child for adoption. The hospital  in-turn calls the agency and the agency chooses a family based on the child's situation. The process can happen very quickly and there is far less time to prepare and learn about the birthmother and potential concerns regarding the child. In the past families have received a hospital call and have gone home with their child in a matter of hours! 
So where do we go from here? you ask. We WAIT! We wait patiently and  pray the God will continue to guard our hearts through the process. We pray that God will prepare the heart of our birthmother for the adoption process and we pray for the health and well-being of the birthmother and child that God has chosen for us!
Thank you so much for your prayers and support along our journey!
With Love,
Chris & Bethany