[carlyincali]

I posted this on another board before I saw this California board.

Hello, I am new to this board but have spent a few years over on the Guatemalan adoption board. We have a 2yo son who came home from Guatemala in 2007. We were nearing the end of our second adoption, a 5yo little girl, when we learned that she had been murdered in Guatemala. She had already had her new birth certificate and was "officially" our daughter. We are devastated and heartbroken. But, we do feel like there is another child out there for us, so my husband and I are considering adopting out of foster care.

We don't know the first thing about it. I admit we are leary because we're not sure if we want the state/county always knocking on our door. Does this happen? We are a homeschooling family and have homeschooled our kids from the beginning. I'm so afraid that we will be *targeted* and always checked on because of this.

If we go with some foster-to-adopt organizations like the Dave Thomas one or Olive Crest, I believe, (but am not certain,) that the process will be more indepth and we will be scrutinized very closely because we are homeschoolers.

But what if we were to go through a private agency. Can someone do foster to adopt through a private agency?

(Forgive me for my ignorance. But we don't know how a domestic/foster-care adoption works.)

Honestly, I'm not even sure if I have the energy for all of this. I am tired of paperwork... homestudies, dossiers, etc. I want a child, but I don't want to do all the preparation again. I feel like I just did it all.

Sorry, this turned into a rant more than an inquiry. I really thought that this would be easier, but I'm seeing how much is involved and I guess it's discouraging to say the least.

TIA