I'm a little frustrated. Well, more than a little.
Almost three years ago, Matt and I started on this little adventure we call adoption. We filled out more paperwork than is necessary to buy ten houses, let people inspect our home, impose on friends and family to write reference letters, submit to medical examinations, wrote autobiographies with very personal information, shelled out cash, and basically put our lives on display in an adoption profile that anyone and their dog could view.
We were willing to do all of this.
And then we waited. And waited. And waited.
Finally, Emma came along in a whirlwind of plane tickets and last minute documents and agency swapping. We were so excited (and we'd absolutely do it again!) that we didn't take time to really see what switching agencies meant.
We lost our amazing case worker, Rachel, who had been with us since the beginning. And we lost most of the paperwork because it doesn't transfer between agencies. Boo!
We didn't realize this until after we'd had Emma for about a month and the new agency started calling and requesting documents that we thought we had already taken care of. At one point, we had three different people from the agency calling for different reasons. It was a bit confusing, to say the least. In the end, we've had to redo every piece of paper known to man, and more that were just invented. We've had to redo doctor visits, ask friends for more reference letters ("Pretend we don't already have a baby and write about our potential as parents."), take CPR classes, redo financial forms and resend tax statements, pay for more in-home visits (can you say "nerve-wracking?"), complete packets that say that we realize we're switching agencies, and retake adoption classes. Double boo!
Not that Emma isn't worth every bit of it. I'm not saying that at all. I just think it is absolutely RIDICULOUS that we have to complete so much paperwork that is supposedly required by the state, but doesn't transfer. Why don't medical forms and tax statements transfer? Someone needs to rethink that!
Plus, I have to get my house ready for a home visit by tomorrow night. Maybe that's why I could hold out until this moment to rant. My house is definitely not visit worthy right now. Keep your fingers crossed that our post-placement coordinator is blind!
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2 comments:
WHAT!?!?! Are you kidding me? That's just irritating. I would give that Rachel a call anyway and ask her what should transfer. You never know if the "other" agency is just trying cash in on your situation, know what I mean? You shouldn't have to pay for more home visits unless they're the follow up ones. The initial one should TOTALLY transfer. AND LDS should still have copies of all your letters and other records. If your agency just isn't accepting them because of a transfer have your attorney give them a call. There's my rant for ya! Shall I go on? :) Love you and miss you and want to see you soon!
Just one more thing to tell Emma about when she is a teenager and you want to tell her how much you really had to go through for her! She'll know you love her for sure!
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