The Adoption Process Timeline as experienced by the Jackson family….

May 2011

• We researched different private adoption agencies and adoption through the state of Florida.
• We decided to use Bethany Christian Services, a private, Christian agency that handles domestic and inter-country (international) adoptions.
• We submitted a formal application for domestic adoption.  This mainly included information about us, our immediate family, religious beliefs, and financial information.
• Bethany approved our application.  

June 2011

• We started our home study paperwork.  

July 2011

• We complete our home study paperwork and turn the packet in.  (This sentence could also read, we worked our you-know-what’s off to complete this inch thick packet and turn it in. We took long walks to discuss questions we had never even dreamed about, drove to Titusville twice because the the fingerprint system was shut down the first time, bothered our parents for family information, and filled out paperwork each night just to whittle the stack down)
• We attended a training class.  This was a two day class where we learned about Bethany’s process, heard from birth mothers and adoptive families, and met other families going through this process.  One emotional side note:  We went in to this training with no clue as to the purpose, and were both completely exhausted after the second day.  It was a very intense two days of practical and emotional learning; and it showed us a perspective we had not considered before, that of the birth mother.

August 2011

• Bethany assigns us the BEST social worker ever and we begin our home study interviews.  One of the things we discuss is called our openness plan.  This plan includes what R and I think we can handle as far as what child we would be open to - this includes age, race, health conditions of the child, health conditions of the biological parents, amount of contact with the birth mother after placement, etc.  We began praying and talking about our openness in June when we started our home study paperwork….a lot of praying and talking.
• We submitted our profile book for approval.  The profile book is a twenty page photo-book about our family.  Its purpose is to give the birth mother an idea of our personalities and lifestyles - basically, it is what she will see and know about us before we meet.  

September 2011

• Special bonus, our social worker actually finishes our home study while on maternity leave!  Like I said, best social worker ever.
• We begin waiting to be chosen by a birth mother.  Our profile book was approved and is at the Bethany office waiting to be shown to birth mothers.

October 2011

• K starts a blog.  (not necessarily about adoption but it’s on the timeline.  Plus, K needs things to do so she doesn’t sit around and think about not being a mother - I know, sad, right?  If you feel really bad, remember, potterybarnkids packages are like magic….just kidding, I thought that was clever though.)
• We await the next monthly spreadsheet. Bethany does a really cool thing (is it okay for me to use the term, really cool? it looks worse when typed) for waiting families and they send out a monthly update with encouraging news, like families and children who have been matched and a spreadsheet letting us know about perspective beautiful children. I like to call it the Spreadsheet of Hope.

That seems like a lot of writing. That is the process/timeline in the condensed version (my condensed version). Questions?