[takingtheplunge]

Hello. As I am typing this, I can't help but think that I am maybe jinxing myself; yet, I read so many sad and hopeless threads lately that I want to share my story to give hope.

I live in so. cal. and applied with the with the county for foster adoption. We thought about working through an FFA to avoid the 13 parenting classes, but we were told that the county is better to work with if one plans are to adopt verses just fostering.

Anyway, the 13 parenting class actually brought my hubby and I closer together. They gave us a lot to think about in terms of openess with adoption and willingness to open our eyes to exposed or neglected kids.

During the year it took us to get approved, we experienced another miscarriage, proving that a biological path just isn't in our cards. However, my hope was strong that I would receive a placement of one to two children with the county.

Our profile said we were open to boy or girl, one or two, 0 to 24 months. We were open to mild abuse, neglect or mild exposure. We requested "low risk" of the placement failing.

We were on the "matching list" for about two months.

We were sure that we would be presented with a sib set of ADHD boys over one that were taken from scary drug dealers (not that that is bad, but it seemed as though younger kids and girls were less common).

We were shocked when we got the call that a mother in the hospital chose to relinquish and she picked us out of a few couples when the county worker presented her profiles of some couples wishing to adopt.

During the call, we received some background information about the child and her family, some of which was concerning and some rather ordinary. We accepted the referral sight unseen and just prayed. I feared I would go to the hospital and see a smushed baby with tubes coming out of her nose. However, it was quite the opposite.

When we saw her, she opened her eyes for us. I can honestly say that she is one of the most adorable babies I have seen. It's a bonus that she actually looks as though she could have been ours. She even has hair.

We are amazed every day that she is in our home. We have been with her since her birthday and I can only hope that we will have her for every birthday in the future.

Apparently, we are told that it will still take 6 months + for the adoption to be finalized which is concerning, but so far it's been 8 weeks and we haven't got any bad news. Fingers are crossed.

If anyone has had a "relinquishment" adoption gone bad, you can PM me the details. Otherwise, i hope my story (though limited on details for privacy reasons) is a breath of hope for some of you.

[wannabeamomma]

Thank you for your post. It is hard not to get discouraged through this process at times. Dh and I just finished the PRIDE classes and are working on getting licensed. During the this process we realized that we want to be parents and help children. We really don't have to have a bio child to do that. We are praying that the right child/children will come to us.
Just like you we are open to 1-2 sibs, 0-2. We are still iffy on concurrent planning but haven't ruled it out. Anyway, I am happy that your little girl found you! and pray that she will soon be your forever baby.

[Yash]

Takingtheplunge, congrats. I hope everything goes smoothly and your little one becomes your forever daughter.