Little Peapod shoes for Miss Pia
Monday, September 25, 2006
Lessons I've Learned About Adoption So Far
I was reading my earlier posts when we were trying to choose an agency. Ah.....I was so foolish. I chose my agency based on how friendly the people on the phone were and the quality of the materials they sent. Little did I know that you choose your agency based on things like
1) Researching the agency on yahoo groups. Many opinions...very helpful.
2) Thinking about how important it is to have a local agency. So that you have a close network of families with children from China to socialize with.
3) Cost. Yes...it's ok to comparison shop. You are not BUYING a child. But you are paying for a service and the agency fees can vary wildly and for no good reason!
4) China specific agency. We initially thought a multi-nation agency would be a good thing. We thought that if the China adoption fell through we could just switch our funds to another country. Well, having a China specific agency provides with a level of service that the other agency could not. EAC services 100 China parents a year but only has three employees assigned to the China desks. CAWLI has lots of employees who are all experts on china adoption.
5) Medical advice and assistance on the trip. CAWLI sends a Dr. on the trip with you.
So....we are learning as we go and getting smarter every day.
1) Researching the agency on yahoo groups. Many opinions...very helpful.
2) Thinking about how important it is to have a local agency. So that you have a close network of families with children from China to socialize with.
3) Cost. Yes...it's ok to comparison shop. You are not BUYING a child. But you are paying for a service and the agency fees can vary wildly and for no good reason!
4) China specific agency. We initially thought a multi-nation agency would be a good thing. We thought that if the China adoption fell through we could just switch our funds to another country. Well, having a China specific agency provides with a level of service that the other agency could not. EAC services 100 China parents a year but only has three employees assigned to the China desks. CAWLI has lots of employees who are all experts on china adoption.
5) Medical advice and assistance on the trip. CAWLI sends a Dr. on the trip with you.
So....we are learning as we go and getting smarter every day.
September 2006
We are in the thick of the paperchase! I have so much to do before we can leave the state to go to Florida. Our home study interviews are over and it was so easy. I had been so anxious for this and I really had nothing to worry about. Our social worker, Allison, was the most professional and kind person to work with. She gave us good advice and encouragement and was so tactful in her questions. Some of the home study questions can be pretty thought provoking and all you can do is take your time and answer them honestly. It's funny how a question like, "What is your spouses greatest strength and weakness?" can catch you off guard. Sounds like an easy question, right? But when you complicate your thinking by trying to gear your answer towards looking like attractive potential parents it can get all muddled. So I just tried to answer those questions with out working any angles and tried to relax. So now we are waiting to go have our Dr. appointments to certify our health. We have also decided to switch agencies. I won't get into it too much here but if any adoptive parents ever ask me in private e-mail I will respond. We are so happy to be working with CAWLI out of Brookline, MA. They seem helpful and responsive and very interested in making sure we are quality people rather than just able to pay them. This past weekend we decided to take a week off and go up Maine. It was really nice. I have been really sick with a nasty bug and needed to get out of the house. We found some super sweet things for little "Pia". Pia is from Olympia which is our current name for our baby. We'll see if it lasts. It really seems to be sticking. :)
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