[leenie71]

Hi, this board is not very active, but thought I would try again....we live in Delaware County right outside of the city. We're pursuing domestic and just had our hs visit last week, hope to have it finalized by the end of the month. We're signed with a facilitator in California.

anyone else around?

[ses1230]

Hi Eileen,

I was so glad to find a post on this board! We live in Montgomery County (near KOP).

We have one daughter through open adoption (domestic, private), she will be 3 in March and we are hoping to have another little one real soon - fingers crossed, I don't want to say too much and jinx it!

This time has been tough. It has been 15 months since our homestudy and we have had a failed match and a failed placement in that time.

I hope we can keep this Philly 'burb board going.

Good luck!

Stephanie

[myccg2004]

Hello. Wow I didn't even know there was something set up for the Philly suburbs! This is great. We also live in Montgomery County. Near Collegeville. We have 1 son,
4 1/2 ,that we adopted through domestic adoption.

Good luck to everyone on their adoption journeys! Keep us posted.

[hoping4u]

Hi,

I'm not too far away. I'm from Berks county, about 1 hour or so from Philly.

We have just been matched for our first adoption - domestic and also in Pa. Our EDD is April 26, only
about 10 weeks away!!!

Sheila

[leenie71]

I'm so happy to finally see some posts!

Stephanie, I recognize your screen name...I think I chatted with you a couple of years ago when I was just starting to research. Are you the one who recommended Jay Ginsburg? Sorry to hear that you're still waiting for #2 and that you had to go through some failures....good luck to you!

myccg, are you adopting again? It's great for me to see people who adopted already...it feels sometimes like it will never happen.

Sheila, CONGRATS on the match! This year is flying by already...april will be here before you know it! Do you have everything ready? Are you traveling out of state?

eileen

[myccg2004]

Eileen, I don't think. at this point, we will be adopting again. Unfortunately, I'm not getting any younger! We do think that maybe in the future we will look into adopting an older (4-8 yr old) child from foster care. But that is such a scary road to travel. The adoption of our son (he was newborn) was so smooth that I don't know if I could handle anything else. Good luck on your journey. I hope you are matched quickly and you're bringing a baby home soon.

Sheila, congrats on your match!! It won't be long now. Please keep us posted.

Stephanie, I heard that sometimes the 2nd one can be so much harder. Don't really know why. I would have thought the opposite. In the meantime, with having a 3 year old, I know you are VERY busy, to say the least!! Good luck with everything!

[hoping4u]

Thanks for the welcome and well wishes Eileen and myccg!!!

April will be here before I know it and I really need to get on the ball with getting things together, I haven't really bought much yet!

Our bmom is in Pa. (the Poconos). It is only about 1 1/2 hour drive for us, I am thankful for that! My DH and I met with her and the bdad and their 7 year old twice now and things seem to be going well.

Eileen ~ I wish you a speedy match, best of luck and please keep us posted!

Sheila

[leenie71]

I really hope we can keep this thread going....

Thanks Sheila and myccg for the good wishes!

Sheila, that's so great that you've met with the birth family. If you don't mind me asking, how much openness will you have with the bfamily after the baby is born? We're going to the Poconos this weekend...we rent the same house in the Camelback area. I'm looking forward to a little getaway. Did you register yet or are you planning to do that?

myccg, who did you use for your adoption....agency, attorney, facilitator? Adopting through the foster care system does seem like a scary road, but I really don't know enough about it. I've heard that it's a lot cheaper though!

have a good night!

Eileen

[DianeScraps]

Hi - Also from the Philly Burbs - Montgomery County - Near the power plant

Our adoption history is in my signature. My girls are 10 & 7 now.

[leenie71]

Hi Diane,
Welcome! Are you near Limerick? 3 from Montco....have you been to the new outlets yet? That's wonderful that you adopted siblings. I would think that it's nice for them to have each other. Besides their aparents too, that is!

[myccg2004]

I hope we can keep this going too. I've always wondered how many people in our "backyard" were going through the same thing as us. It's amazing !

Eileen - we used an attorney and a facilitator. It worked out well for us. After our homestudy was complete, it took 10 months to match with our son's birthparents. We did have 2 (what I would call) sort of failed matches. Never met, no money exchanged. Verbally said " we want you to parent our baby" but for many reasons thing just didn't pan out. We started out just wanting to use an attorney but found out quickly that expectant parents looking to place their babies weren't knocking on his door. We then also went with a facilitator who I have to say we just loved. Not cheap by any means, but you have to weigh the pros and cons.

Diane - If you are near the power plant then you are really close to us. You can see the towers from the end of our street!!

[DianeScraps]

Originally Posted by leenie71

Hi Diane,
Welcome! Are you near Limerick? 3 from Montco....have you been to the new outlets yet? That's wonderful that you adopted siblings. I would think that it's nice for them to have each other. Besides their aparents too, that is!

Yes, I am near Limerick

I have been to the outlets - the daughters are looking forward to being able to go during good weather so they can try out the playgrounds.

[ses1230]

Hi everyone!

I'm so glad to see this board is staying active, I haven't checked for a few days.

We went to the outlets before Christmas and found some great sales. It will be easier when it gets warmer, at least for us. Diane, are there playgounds at the outlets? That would be great for DH and DD while I'm shopping, lol!

We met the emom and everything went well. Keep your fingers crossed for us!

Stephanie

[hoping4u]

Hi,

It's just so great to have contact with other people going through this process!

I was very happy our bfamily wanted to meet with us! I think it probably made me feel better about the situation just having had that contact! Our bmom is great, she invited me to go with her to her recent Dr. appointment and she also would like me to come with her to have an ultrasound. I was just so thankful that she would allow me to be that involved!

Right now she is only asking for pictures once a year. I want to have a conversation with her to find out if she might be interested in more. I would like to maybe have an occasional visit, if she would be open to that. I also would like to send her pictures more than once a year, at least for the first few years. I don't want to push her though. She has placed before (Feb 2005) and in that situation she didn't meet or even really talk to the family prior to them coming to the hospital to pick the baby up.

My biggest concern right now is our home study is not completely finished. My attorney keeps on assuring me it will be finished in time, (the person who is doing it works for her).

I would like to register somewhere, I just haven't done that yet! I was thinking Babies-R-Us.

Eileen, how did your home study visit go?? They haven't been to our home yet, so I'm not sure what to expect. Thats the only thing not done, as all our clearances and questions are complete.

Sheila

[jf5505]

Hi

I am in West Chester, Pa and am just starting this process, needless to say I am really scared to death. I worry about PA adoption b/c of the 31 day wait...I think it would be so hard to have to give a newborn back. Can you guys PM me with the agency you are going to use. I have looked at Adoptions from the Heart and Gladney. I would love to hear what you have to say or any advice you can give to me just starting out.

I am so happy to see this site being active!!!

Good luck to everyone waiting/in the Homestudy/etc...