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This message was originally posted by bjandryan.

I keep getting told I am so young to be doing this and all kinds of other junk (see my some people just dont get it post) and yeah so what i am young Im 21 and want to be a parent so bad. I mean I think about it and cry knowing that soon we could have our dream.

So who else out there is "really young" and what have your experiences been?

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This message was originally posted by jolean12.

Sorry, not in the really young crowd anymore....LOL I am 29. Yikes, almost the big 30

Don't let them discourage you though. You know in your heart what is right for you and your family.

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This message was originally posted by mommy_2001.

Hey, lay off of the 30 bit...

I'm 30, my husband is 27. Most of all that I've been able to find out about age is that most places would like you to be at least 20 years older than the child you're caring for. But honestly, I know some 20 year olds that are way more mature and equipped to deal with life on lifes basis than a lot of the 30 year olds I know. Don't be discouraged.

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This message was originally posted by bjandryan.

First I want to say I hope I didnt offend anyone with "really young" thats just whats being said to me.

29 is still really young in my opinion. Well in my opinion your as old as you feel but that makes me like 92 LOL

I just hope they dont look at our age and say "no sorry your to young" I can take care of the kids and just want to be a mommy.

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This message was originally posted by toyjsu.

Hey Jolean,
I am 28 and 30 is getting dangerously close.
I am sorry you are getting such a hard time bjandryan.

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This message was originally posted by FSTRMom2B.

I'm 26 and my husband is 29. Our son is 7 so we're all kind of young lol. We were definatly the youngest couple in our classes, but from what I understand, they usually just require you to be at least 21 and married at least 3 yrs (at least in our area). We've been parents, it seems, forever lol.-- FSTRMom2B

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This message was originally posted by evansmum.

I'm 24, and dh is 23. We have a 4 y/o little boy, and have been fostering for about a year and a half.

Meg

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This message was originally posted by BritaLyn.

I'm really young
21 also. I turned 21 in February and sent in my foster parent application a week or two after. If you're going through the state, they can't discriminate based on age, as long as you're within the age range they have set by law, which you are.
I'm also the youngest in my classes and everything. Almost everyone else is couples in their 30s or 40s, and I'm a single 21 year old, but I look 16 lol
People who don't know what they're talking about keep telling me they won't let me do it, but there's no reason why not. I've been a parent for over three years now anyway

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This message was originally posted by bjandryan.

Thanks for the replies and Im glad to see some others right around my age.

I guess here they dont require that you have been married for a certian ammount of time or anything, we have been married almost 2 years.

Now my problem is do I want to go through the state or the original agency I thought about. Prob with orig. agency is they dont have a daily rate you just buy what the kids need and they give it back to you once a month but starting out Im not sure I could afford to do that.

I got some books at the library today about adoption and certian disabilities and abuse and plan on reading them asap.

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This message was originally posted by hope4kids.

You all are young in the foster care world! I am in my 30's and am the youngest foster parent with the two agencies I have been with. I think the average age of foster parents around here is somewhere in the 40's. I am glad I am "young" though, I thionk it gives me the energy to keep up with the little ones.

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This message was originally posted by fostersister.

I told the people from the agency my mom goes through to send me an application on my 21st birthday now that we have a sweet little boy i could start now

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This message was originally posted by evansmum.

@ bjandryan

Here, they do have the requirement that you be married for a minimum of two years, OR in a long term committed relationship for two years. We've been married 5 years now, so it's not a big deal for us.

We were also the youngest in all our training and orientation classes. I don't mind though - just when some of the "older" foster parents at the FPA meetings don't think we have anything valid to say (meaning fps who are in their 50's and 60's). Now that I'm the secretary for the FPA, though, they HAVE to listen to me LOL.

Meg

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This message was originally posted by dawniemickey.

Your age is determined by your developmental age not your physical age in my opinion. However the majority of us develop similarly at certain ages hence the stereotype. Well I am 28 and my husband is 26. We have been married for 7 years and do not have children of our own. We have been in the process of certification for almost a year now. We had recently bought our first home and it was a major fixer-upper so that slowed us down quite a bit. We basically have gutted this house and have been in the process of restoring it for 5 months now. But once it is finished we will finally enter the realm of foster parenting. We are hoping to have it finished in two months. I am so excited, yet I am very anxious. It has to do with the unkown that comes with each child. Most of this anxiety is what I call the first time mommy syndrome. Never having been a parent, I wonder how well I will do. I will be taking in children up to the age of 10. How about anyone else out there. Can someone share their experience of becoming a foster parent never having been a parent prior? Any suggestions or advice would be most appreciated.

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This message was originally posted by jolean12.

It is the scariest feeling we have ever known. Like you said the fear of the unknown. You don't even know what age child will join your family. They could be newborn or ten yrs old, so there is no way to prepare.
I do want to tell you though, that once it happens and that child joins your family there is nothing more rewarding. You are trying to figure out how you are going to help this child, and then the littlest thing may make them smile or you see the littlest change in behavior and that is the most amazing feeling there could be. We had a boy who had never been to the fair, he was 11. We took him to the state fait they have in our area and the look on his face when his eyes lit up just makes it all worth while. To hear him laugh as he rode rides he had never experienced, I just can't explain. Or when they have never had a birthday party and you walk in the room with a cake...WOW. Those are just a small example of what we have experienced in the last year. There are a ton of other examples so if you need more things to make you smile just let me know.

Good luck and keep me posted.

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This message was originally posted by Coupleweeks.

I am 26 and where I am you do not need to be 20 years older than your fc I have a 17 yo fd and love it.she has been with us for 2 years.It is a little hard only being 9 years apart but so far it has been good!!!