[laraine]

We have started DSS process for fostering/adoption. We would like to adopt a child infant - teenager, boy/girl. We have other children and feel in our hearts we have the desire to help a child that needs a family. I would like to talk to other people who are in the process of State adoption.

Our process couldn't be easier and eveyone has been very friendly. The best part is I don't have to go out of the country, pay absorbent fees and can choose an American child. Everyone talks English and we can choose any child in all States. There are over 126,000 children to be adopted 0 - 21. There are subsidies for special needs and continued help through the process lifetime. where else would we get that?

If you are in the Adoption process or have Adopted please leave me a reply I'm interested in knowing your experience.

Thank you,
Laraine

[Jenniwest]

Hi, Laraine!

We are currently in the adoption process through SC DSS also. We have been very pleased with our workers as well. I'd love to hear how things go for you. Not sure when you will check this since the post is a little old, but I'd be glad to share more of our story as well.

I wish you the best!
Jenni

[HisWill]

We are also in the process of being approved for SC DSS adoption. Our homestudy completed July 5 and now we are waiting on our approval letter. We are hoping adopt a boy age 5-9 or a brother/sister sibling group-same age. We have 3 bio children and want to add to our family through adoption. I'm a stay-at-home mom and I'm very excited about growing our family and the kids can't wait to have new siblings. My son's only request was that he remain the oldest child(he is 10). I really hope that we are matched with a child/children in SC soon, but we are not opposed to going out of state. Anyone have Interstate Compact experience with SC? Our workers have been great but they have not been very positive about us looking out of state to adopt. We have been told that it will add another 6 months to our process even after we are matched because of paperwork. I have been looking at different websites and we have found a little boy out of state that we are interested in. I think I will give it some time in SC before we actually pursue out of state adoption. I would think that travel expense would add up in pre-placement visits.
I look forward to sharing our experience with adoption and hearing aobut others.

Nicole

[laraine]

Hi Nicole,
We discussed with our SC DSS folks the options for fostering outside our state. There is a reciprical for GA but not NC or anyother surrounding states. I go to the photolistings for DSS for each state and look around. I have inquired before on a child which one can do through the site but no one responded. I tried 3 times in the state of Texas. Our DSS people told us that it's hard with Texas. If you see a child you are interested you can fill out the onsite form for information and then wait and see if you have a response. And, if your really interested, I would contact your DSS Case Worker. We finished our training last month and it was great. Very helpful and informative and fun. It was extremely interesting meeting everyone with varied backgrounds and their reasons for adopting. They had mentioned to continue calling your case worker if you find a child you are interested in. It's so exciting and it sounds like your family all supports your decision. This is great. Keep up the research and let me know if you need those websites. Laraine

[laraine]

Jenni,

I'm not sure if I'm doing this thread thing correctly so hopefully this comes up under your response.

We started DSS a few months ago after researching international and open adoptions. We decided their are so many children right here in our state, why go any further? I'd still be interested with open adoption, and there are various ages. We found a good agency in California and decided to waive our interest for now.

We decided to try our DSS system and they couldn't be more pleasant, helpful and informative. Now, we haven't gotten a caseworker yet as we have two pieces of paper to hand in and then our fire inspection.

We have prayed on this for a long time and want to open our home up to a youngster who needs a family. So, we have no age cap or gender specific needs.

How about you all? How did you come about DSS?

I still look at children from other states and figure if I saw a child I just knew would fit in our family I would persue it as best as I could. We are anxious to complete our home study and see what happens next as there are so many situations.

I breaks my heart when I read unsuccessful stories or nightmare stories within the process. We're hoping ours will go well and we'll have a success story for all to hear about.

Where are you in the process? What are your feelings on it?

Laraine