[KIC1975]

I posted this on another group I'm part of, but I thought there might be some interest here too.

This is really interesting (especially for anyone who is adopting from
WA or lives in WA)...
If you live in WA (and I think if you live outside of WA but are
adopting a baby born in WA) you can do both TPR and finalize in WA.
Which means that we get to use the 48 hr TPR time frame instead of
California's 30 day TPR! How cool is that!

Also, WA has a way to legalize the amount of openness in an adoption.
You can file a paper with the court in WA defining what will occur
with the adoption (letters once a year on the birth date, pictures
twice a year etc). Up until now I didn't know that you could have a
legally binding open adoption. Our attorney said that it is a really
good tool to use with family/birth fathers that don't support the
adoption because they are afraid that there will be no contact after
the placement.

Also, a new medical test...Sometime this summer hospitals should be
able to start testing the umbilical cord for any substance used during
pregnancy. So you can know for sure if alcohol/drugs were used anytime
during the pregnancy not just at birth. The cost for the test is
estimated to be $300-$500.

Just though y'all might be interested.