[smithwick123]

My husband and I are in the begining stages of our adoption, (we havent had our home study yet) I was wondering when everyone told their employer about the adoption?

[snaps]

I had three miscarriages prior to deciding to adopt so people at my work were aware of the decision pretty soon especially b/c I was taking off work to go to home study visits. I did not really explain how modern domestic adoption works until almost through with the home study. I work in medicine and have patients booked out 8 weeks in advance. I had to tell them to get prepared b/c I could leave at any time. So far they have been fairly supportive. Good luck with everything.

[brinawynne]

We told our bosses right before we started the homestudy interviews. I have 4 friends at work that know and my dh has about the same. We kept saying, after this step we'll tell them. Then we'll complete another step, and then it's, Let's wait until this step is completed. I've chose not to tell because I'm not sure I can handle the "Why is it taking so long", and "When is he coming home" a million times IF something were to go wrong a delay the process.

Do what feels right for you. Our bosses are very supportive. And I know my coworkers will be too, I just don't know if I can handle the emotional side of it if something goes wrong.

I guess we'll go on "vacation" in a few months and make the annoucement when we get home...with our little man!

Brina

[ChitownTracy]

i told my supervisor during the homestudy, b/c we used her as a reference. we both told our coworkers & such after we officially went into waiting status in June. we used our portfolio to show what our adoption process is all about...
HTH
tracy

[tobeafamily]

We told them right away - both my employer and DH's USN Command. DH's CO offered to be a reference, as was my employer, for our homestudy.

Everyone was very supportive. His command ran an 'open leave chit' so we could leave at a moment's notice (this is very unusual) with the condition that we bring the baby by for a visit. No problem. They gave him special permission to carry a cell phone too. Every time my cell phone rang at work everyone would stop until I hung up then say "well?"

Remember that if you're pursuing domestic parental placement adoption, these people can be networking resources too. In fact, our connection was made by a former co-worker of mine. DH also got several leads and was approached by a shipmate whose daugher was 16 YO and pregnant for advice on what to do.

JMHO

Regina

[LisaCA]

hi,

I found that my employers were less than supportive. I think they were more supportive of pregnancies, since it was more predictable. The adoption thing just too unpredictable for some. Now don't get me wrong, they were supportive of the idea, but the reality drove them insane. I ended up waiting to adopt til the summer when I was "off" (I taught college).

[Kat-L]

Originally Posted by smithwick123

My husband and I are in the begining stages of our adoption, (we havent had our home study yet) I was wondering when everyone told their employer about the adoption?

I told my supervisors when I started the homestudy process. I just wanted to make sure they felt prepared if I needed to take time off in a hurry. I knew they wouldn't appreciate any "surprises" because staffing can be a problem. Although I can't tell them exactly when I'll need the time, we were able to talk about how much time I'll be requesting "off" and what kind of schedule I'd want upon return..etc.

They have all been very supportive of my decision and have been extra helpful in approving short term "leave" so I could schedule doctor's appts and homestudy visits.

[sneezyone]

My leave was extremely sudden (we only had three weeks from the time we signed on til dd was placed with us and only two months after we started the homestudy) so I didn't have that much time to tell my employer. I told them after we completed our homestudy and signed on with an agency - that turned out to be 1 month prior to placement. They were extremely supportive tho and I immediately took 3 months off! I work in a k12 education agency so there are lots of babies born among us each year.

DH is in the Navy and his command was very supportive. We talked to bmom on a Friday morning and by Saturday afternoon we were on a flight! They ran an open-ended chit for him and he took off work for two weeks at placement and two weeks after my return to work. All in all, dd was with us for 4 months before she started daycare.