First home study session done

[lizblue]

So our first session was at the agency and basically just went over the plethora of materials that we have to compile over the next month.  It's .... a lot, as many of you well know.  It was also slightly overwhelming to start really giving thought to things like pre-natal drug and alcohol exposure and what we are comfortable accepting in a match.  We will be attending a class conducted by a doctor so that we can learn more, but I'm wondering if there are other things I can do to research this.  Anybody have any words of wisdom?

I feel excited and hopeful, and it's starting to feel more real that this is happening.  There's a lot to think about and I'm surprisingly less anxious than I am about most things.  I feel like we will be as informed as possible and make decisions we feel comfortable with.  I almost have this weird feeling of ...faith maybe? that one day I'm going to be hanging out with my kid and these times of forms and homestudies will feel far away.

Thanks for listening!

[chele]

No words of wisdom as we are not DIA, but wanted to say congrats on getting the process underway!

[drl]

Congrats!

We got feedback on exposures from our family doctor

[Deleted]

How exciting! No words of wisdom for you, except maybe to see if there are blogs or books about people who adopted children with fetal alcohol syndrome. When we first started looking at International Adoption, I found a lot of blogs and books by people who adopted HIV+ kids and I learned SO MUCH about it and it really alleviated my concerns and misconceptions about the disease.
I wanted to ask you what kinds of documentation you have to collect? We will be starting our foster care classes next month and I assume the home study would begin during or shortly after and I'd love to get a head start!

[lizblue]

Apr 3, 2015 12:27:30 GMT -5 @helgahufflepuff said:

How exciting! No words of wisdom for you, except maybe to see if there are blogs or books about people who adopted children with fetal alcohol syndrome. When we first started looking at International Adoption, I found a lot of blogs and books by people who adopted HIV+ kids and I learned SO MUCH about it and it really alleviated my concerns and misconceptions about the disease.
I wanted to ask you what kinds of documentation you have to collect? We will be starting our foster care classes next month and I assume the home study would begin during or shortly after and I'd love to get a head start!

Re: documentation- there is a long list of everything, but basically you need to provide back up for your entire financial info. Bank statements, W-2s, 1040s, car loan agreement, mortgage document, plus marriage license, background checks (state and federal). GL!

[Deleted]

Apr 5, 2015 21:58:57 GMT -5 lizblue said:

Apr 3, 2015 12:27:30 GMT -5 @helgahufflepuff said:

How exciting! No words of wisdom for you, except maybe to see if there are blogs or books about people who adopted children with fetal alcohol syndrome. When we first started looking at International Adoption, I found a lot of blogs and books by people who adopted HIV+ kids and I learned SO MUCH about it and it really alleviated my concerns and misconceptions about the disease.
I wanted to ask you what kinds of documentation you have to collect? We will be starting our foster care classes next month and I assume the home study would begin during or shortly after and I'd love to get a head start!

Re: documentation- there is a long list of everything, but basically you need to provide back up for your entire financial info. Bank statements, W-2s, 1040s, car loan agreement, mortgage document, plus marriage license, background checks (state and federal). GL!

Thank you! I can't believe they want all that stuff. Sheesh!

[pinkie]

The first time through the paperwork it is so very overwhelming!!

Regarding drug and alcohol exposure, we were not open to much but we did consult a doctor for both of our matches and I'll share what he told us (please remember this is all in generals...and each situation is different):

- alcohol is the worst drug for prenatal development. There is no measure of what is safe but repeated prolonged use can have very devastating effects,
- we were told cigarettes, while not ideal, are not that bad overall. The effects can include low birth weight, premature delivery and can increase risk of asthma. We were told pot use is not considered very bad either.
- prescription drugs often will have classifications to show if they could be harmful. If a doctor prescribes for a pregnant woman they should not prescribe something that would harm the baby.
- often doctors will switch women from meds like oxy to methadone which is way less harmful to the baby. A methadone baby may need to be weaned after birth so there may be a longer hospital stay but typically post withdraw there are no long lasting effects.

I don't know about any drugs beyond these and I would def try to talk to a doctor