Hi all! I'm working on an initial inquiry letter to an agency that I am 110% sure is the one that I want to work with. It's been super-important to me to find an agency that meets all this criteria:
- GLBT-friendly, not just playing lip service to comply with law
- No marriage requirements
- Okay with a bit of an age difference
- Doesn't require documented infertility, treatments or pregnancy attempts
- No extra cost and No extra wait time for this
- Not ostentatiously expensive
So yeah, it's been interesting looking for an agency, but I found them surprisingly easily. I once read an awesome book called The Kid that was the account of a gay couple adopting (really hilarious), and I liked the agency but now had no idea who they were (and figured they were in Oregon anyway). I didn't really think about it when I went looking, but I stumbled upon them when looking for open agencies near me.
Since I know that they are who I definitely want to work with, I'm trying to make a great first impression without coming off like a block of wood.
So anyway, here's what I've got so far (the red parts are what I'm really, really not sure about):
Hi, I found your agency on Google and have been very impressed with the attitudes on the site. For me and my girlfriend, adoption has always been our first choice for having children... and partly because of that, some agencies won't even talk to us. They act like we must be total mutants to be in a relationship and want to adopt just out of love.
We're also unmarried (and will most likely stay that way), so finding an agency who's willing to work with unmarried couples is definitely a requirement. I read 'The Kid' a few years ago and laughed all the way through it, but I didn't make the connection until I saw it mentioned on the site. I really love that you have an office near us (we're near [town]), so post-placement would be a breeze 
Being multiracial ourselves, we're open to race, gender, twins and somewhat to age. "Somewhat" means 5 or under. I'm a little afraid of adopting infants, to be honest. I hear a lot about FAS and some illnesses aren't apparent until 18 months or older. But I am open to adopting infants, there are just more questions involved than with older matches. I don't consider race to be a "special need" the way that I would Down's Syndrome or Spina Bifida. I don't think that I'm the right person to help a child who has a serious medical condition.
It's especially important for us to work with an agency that is truly GLBT-friendly as I think it's a good indicator that an agency can look beyond surface issues like race, age and sexuality and look at true parenting capability. I consider that to be the most important requirement of anyone we will work with and any other setup would be pretty much on auto-fail.
I feel that [agency name] is definitely the agency that we should work with, but I do have a couple of questions:
*What are your fees, and how are they broken down? When can we expect to make the first payment?
*What is the initial consultation like?
*What's the average time to complete homestudy start to finish?
*I don't have any contact with most of my family due to religious differences, would that cause any problems with homestudy? I don't foresee my mother coming back into my life, or being a big part of the lives of my children.
I would like to thank you for taking the time to answer my questions (I know you get a lot of them!).
Best Regards,
[Name]
Yeah, the parts that are red I'm not sure if I'm phrasing them the best way.
Any and all help is appreciated!!!!
Thanks,
Griffin
