Return from Adoption Seminar

We stopped out and the old farm to see Grandma and Grandpa and help them move into their new house. Grandpa looks frail and thin but ornery as ever. Techie helped my Dad and his brothers move the wheel chair ramp and I had time to catch up with my family.  As I sat there listening to everyone my mind wandered.  How will they accept an adopted child?  One of a different race?  Will I ever be able to attend to a family gathering with a child of my own?

That’s the thing that sucks about adoption…it’s excitement after a long period of dread, nervousness and so very many unanswered questions.  I am excited though because my cousin asked for IAC’s number. She might consider adoption, she’s been trying forever and hopefully they will be happier. We returned home different and hopeful people.

Seminar on Open Adoption cont…

It’s the second day of our seminar about open adoption given by our adoption agency, the IAC.

We still have so many questions but we’re raring to go! We met Dan & Krista two adoptive parents and their beautiful daughter (who is African American). She is adorable and melts Techie’s heart. It’s nice to hear about the process and know it does work out. We also see a video from some birthparents. I’m really excited to meet our future birth mom and I hope we have great relationship. I’m looking forward to writing our “Dear Birthmother” letter so that the world can see what great parents we will be. The pictures, the writing, it’s all so ME!

We hung around a while after the seminar trying to soak it all in. I’m trying to soak it all in. I’m totally stoked and this trip to Indianapolis couldn’t have been better. Now off to the mall.

The mall was awesome and Techie and I love all this time together. After trying to get pregnant for more than a year it’s nice to feel that connection between us again. Infertility was hard on our relationship but it’s only made our marriage stronger. Tomorrow we head home with a stop in Illinois to see my Grandparents.

Learning about Open Adoption, a seminar at Independent Adoption Center

We made it to Indianapolis! Last night the stress of adoption caught up to Techie. I’ve thrown myself into the process and worked through a lot of my grief, but he’s been busy with the company. Anger, grief, and questions stirred by excitement are too much and he erupted in the car on the way to the hotel. I answered a lot of his questions and he seems settled now.

It’s our first morning in Indianapolis for the IAC seminar. I’m so nervous and excited. The IAC office is cool. The walls are covered in pictures of smiling prospective parents, and chubby faced babies of successful adoptions. This can work…I’m ready to learn.

We had an awesome day. I’m on some kind of high I swear! There are only three other couples at the seminar, we’re all so different but in some strange way the same. You can almost smell the pain of infertility in the room. Techie was, of course, the class clown. Birth moms are going to love him, he lights up the room and when people talk to him they always walk away feeling good. We learned about all the paperwork, home studies, and talked about important adoption issues like trans-racial adoption and drug use. Tina, our adoption counselor, is nice and comforting. They send us home with a big bag of stuff, which of course makes me very happy.

We spent the night being Indianapolis tourists. We ate at this crappy steakhouse but didn’t even care because we were so busy talking about all the things that we learned and our plans to build a family. Tonight we actually feel like we could have a baby! We’ve been pouring over the materials they gave us, and I’m already reading the required books. Tomorrow we get to meet actual adoptive parents. Can’t wait to go back to IAC.

Our Open Adoption Journal

We’ve decided to adopt. I called about a dozen agencies and we decided on the Independent Adoption Center. They’re a nationwide agency with a good reputation. It was really important to us that they provide counseling to potential birth moms and guide us through the entire process. Before we can become clients we have to go to a weekend seminar so we’re off to the Midwest IAC office in Indianapolis.