[LisaCA]

I can see that we have a stack of new posters and I'm hoping that we can all give a bit of info about ourselves. Some of us have the details in our signatures but I'm hoping we can add more info such as your relation to the adoption triad, your city, town or state if you're willing, and whatever might be interesting to us about you.

the best thing about these forums is that all parts of the triad are encouraged to post, so I'm hoping that all those who frequent this forum from all parts of the triad will be part of the roll call. And lurkers are encouraged to "out" themselves .

[Kimmisue]

I'll start....


We are in the process of adopting our 2nd child. First adoption was domestic caucasian infant. We live in Indiana, near Indy. We have a semi-open adoption with our son's bmom. We are pursing domestic caucasian infant again. We've been waiting over 2 years now....but still hanging in there.

Kim

[MrsSmith]

As a relative "oldster" I'll go first! Edited to add - whoops, Kim posted faster than me, so I'll go SECOND!

I'm Heather, one of the Community Moderators around these here parts (but I swear I rarely bite AND I've had all my shots anyhow ). I am 2/3 of the adoption triad.... I was adopted at birth in a private, closed adoption and grew up as the oldest of three girls in a wonderful family (my two younger sisters are our parents' bio kids) on a sheep farm in NJ. I found my bmom when I was 24, and have been in contact with her and two of her three kids (my half sibs) for almost 10 years now. I've been married forever - well, 11 years but whew sometimes it seems like a lot longer - and my DH and I have one child (her picture is my avatar) and I'm lucky enough to be a SAHM these days. Our DD, Emma, came to us as a newborn through independent, open, domestic adoption and she is the absolute love and joy of our lives. She is now 2.5 and keeps this mama hopping!

I'm not going to say that our adoption journey was smooth or easy, because then a giant bolt of lightning would zap me on the spot. BUT I will say that it has been a worthwhile journey and we feel very blessed to have the opportunity to parent our amazing kiddo.



I'll close by extending a warm WELCOME to all the newer members here - I hope you find the forums to be a supportive and friendly place!

[ameliasmommy]

I have been a lurker and am just now "coming out"... I have enjoyed reading the stories of other families and decided this is a good time to share mine...

We began the adoption journey in March '05 by meeting with a local agency. Hurried through the paperwork and started our wait. At the time I didn't think the wait would end...but then we brought home a beautiful AA baby girl in July '05. We lived in a whirlwind last summer, but would never trade one moment of it!

I just can't wait to do it again!

Alison

Began Homestudy March '05
Placement July '05
Finalized December '05

[LisaCA]

I'm lisa, amom to one lovely little toddler who is just behaving beastly the past week (she just programmed my washing machine to run on extra hot and ruined my delicates . time to go bra shopping, again.)

dh and i live in exciting Los angeles metro area and are thinking about when to pursue adoption number two, when to move (probably to colorado). we love los angeles, but are trying to improve and downsize our lives (read here cheaper place with better air, but also no humidity in the summer and great organic markets-you know, the perfect place, ).

dh, dd, and I are African american, though I am native american on my mom's side. we're in an open adoption with both sides of dd's bfamily and are happy about that . we're also parents to three cats (two burmese and a bombay) and two rabbits (a dutch and a "mixed breed"-read mutt). At least one cat is packing his bags because of the thought of adoption number two.

edited to add: I'm currently a sahm. as a control freak I know no one can do it better than me .

and I love these boards, couldn't remain sane without them. watch it, they're addictive...

[taramayrn]

Hope it's okay for me to chime in. I'm not an adoptive parent but I do spend alot of time reading this forum.
I'm Tara, bmom to Thomas who will be 6 in Feb. We have a fully open adoption with Thomas and his family. I married his birthfather Chad in June.

[redhedded]

I am Red, mama to two precious babes adopted domestically at birth. They are the light of my life. One is a never sleeping three year old, and the other is a busy and tenacious 13 month old; both are loving, happy, funny and prone to raucous laughter everyday. They are also both extremely strong willed and prone to tantrums that involve the full body effect . Life of knowing them, loving them and guiding them has been nothing but pure joy, even on hard days. I am a SAHM, previously a social worker, a job that I will return to when B is three or so. Been married ten years and live in Texas.

[NJNative]

Guess it's my turn to out myself....LOL. My hubby and I have one son together, who is 15 (and eating us out of house and home.) As I said in another thread, we adopted him when he was 10 months old, in a closed, private adoption. He'd been bounced around from place to place a lot and neglected prior to his adoption. My husband also have two grown children from a previous marriage.

My family has a long history of adoption. My dad's father was orphaned at age 10 and raised by foster parents (they often didn't bother with the legalities back in 1918) and my mother's mom was adopted as an infant in Canada. She later found her birth mother, but was never able to find out who her birth father was. In addition, I have 4 cousins who were adopted (two from agencies and two through a stepfather adoptions). Those last two became a full adoption after their biological mother died and my uncle re-married. So adoption is nothing new around here!

Reading these boards takes me back to the days of my son's adoption...almost 15 years ago now! Good grief! Our adoption was rather unique. We found out about the baby first, and 40 days later brought him home. In just 23 days we managed to complete an expedited home study. It was quite the whirlwind. And quite the change...from no baby to a 10 month old who could crawl and was almost walking. Not to mention who weighed 24 pounds...try carrying that without working up to it. My poor back!

Hello to all...

Robin

[Tudu]

I found out I was adopted by my step father at 12 and met my birth family (not fahter) just 5 years ago and have limited contact with them. I was a foster parent or a group home parent for teen girls for 10+ years until my husband and I adopted the most beautiful baby girl through a private very open adoption. We stopped taking anymore placements after her and all of our girls grew up and aged out of the system (not our lives). We had a failed match last summer that woke us up and we realized we really missed having 6 kids and our life had become too quiet. We found out Friday that our homestudy is finally approved and registered with the state of GA and we are waiting to be matched to a large sibling group of 4 to 6 children between 0-18 years old. They can't come soon enough.

[aspenhall]

I am an adoptive mom through an older-child private placement. We are fully open, but don't have much contact...just busy or whatever. I also have a cousin who's ex-wife placed their child at age 2 (got him to sign while he was on drugs and he had no clue). I also am friends with LOADS of bmoms..all of which were friends first and later I found out about their stories. I SURVIED PADS and as I become better attached to my dd, I feel a growing need to adopt again. (my PADS self thinks I'm nuts)

[echaos]

Hi I'm Andy!

Like Heather, I'm a community moderator and 2/3 of the adoption triad!

I was adopted at birth in the era of closed adoption. I reunited with my birth mother about 5 or 6 years ago.

I am also an adoptive Mom! My partner and I adopted our son domestically at birth 3 and a half years ago. We have an open adoption with his birth mother and we had the priveledge of being almost being there for his birth!! (we were with her right up till she went to the OR for a c-section, and then her sister went in with her)

and......


I AM CANADIAN!!!!!!!!!!

[nycfsa]

Hi Everyone, I lurk here alot but don't post too often. We live in NJ and have adopted two Hispanic boys. Our older son was placed with us at birth in Arizona in 2003. His adoption took 14 months to finalize...not because there was a problem; that's just how private out-of-state adoptions work in NJ.

Our younger son was born last September and placed with us when he was 3 weeks old. We used an adoption attorney for both adoptions, but the second one also involved an agency on the birthmother's end.
His adoption should be finalized in about 6 months since he was born in NJ.

We waited a year after our homestudy was completed for our first son, and about 8 months for the second one.

We decided that we'd stop at two kids. As soon as the second adoption is final and the court fees, etc. end we'll probably start saving up to add an addition to our house. We need one more bedroom (4 rather than 3...my parents visit frequently).

I've been a SAHM since we adopted our first son and I LOVE it. I used to be an executive for a large company in New York City, but I'd much rather spend the day at playgroups or Gymboree No plans to go back.

[LisaCA]

canadians! who let them in? . I just saw 60 minutes last night about how you canadians have a ton of oil (specifically oil sands). better watch out, you know how we feel about countries with oil...

[Guspiv]

Hi I'm Sylvie. Hubby and I have been married for almost 7 years. We adopted our son domestically. We brought him almost one year about to the day! (born on January 25 came home on the 28th). He is the absolute joy of our lives and getting ready to celebrate his 1st birthday
We are African American and we have a semi open adoption. When I say semi open I mean, we met both of his birthparents, we send letters and pictures at least once a month we have spoken to and recieved letters from birthmom but haven't heard from birthdad since he signed TPR.
We live in Philadelphia and we are now thinking of when to start for baby number 2.

[echaos]

You'd never survive the invasion.... You would all freeze!!!!