The Adoption Option-One Couple’s Experience 3
Part 3 of our expeiences of the NZ adoption system. Part 2 is here.
We got on very well with our state social worker. One day she phoned us and asked us to consider an unusual proposition.
She knew of a young woman, pregnant with a wee girl. She wanted to adopt out her daughter, but there was a complication. Birth mum already had a 22 month old little boy in foster care. She wanted the kids to stay together. This would be a “package deal”, both or neither “Would it be OK to submit our profile?” and if so, get your profile finished and into us NOW!
Tracey and I had only considered one child. Now here was the possibility of two! We’d only considered adoption-never fostering. How would it work? CYF and the Adoption Unit Christchurch had never done such a case.
It didn’t take us long to decide. We’d be one of 7 or 8 profiles birth mum would have to look at. Pretty slim chance really. We were in!
A day later I got a phone call. It was Alice, our social worker. “Are you sitting down?”. My heart jumped. Ohmygod! Alice said ‘you’ve been accepted”.
The next hour was a blur as I told Tracey and we sat down to discuss the hundreds of thoughts running around our heads. Ironically a week later we received a letter from the Adoption Unit congratulating us on being accepted onto the waiting list and warning it could be a very long wait.
We got on very well with our state social worker. One day she phoned us and asked us to consider an unusual proposition.
She knew of a young woman, pregnant with a wee girl. She wanted to adopt out her daughter, but there was a complication. Birth mum already had a 22 month old little boy in foster care. She wanted the kids to stay together. This would be a “package deal”, both or neither “Would it be OK to submit our profile?” and if so, get your profile finished and into us NOW!
Tracey and I had only considered one child. Now here was the possibility of two! We’d only considered adoption-never fostering. How would it work? CYF and the Adoption Unit Christchurch had never done such a case.
It didn’t take us long to decide. We’d be one of 7 or 8 profiles birth mum would have to look at. Pretty slim chance really. We were in!
A day later I got a phone call. It was Alice, our social worker. “Are you sitting down?”. My heart jumped. Ohmygod! Alice said ‘you’ve been accepted”.
The next hour was a blur as I told Tracey and we sat down to discuss the hundreds of thoughts running around our heads. Ironically a week later we received a letter from the Adoption Unit congratulating us on being accepted onto the waiting list and warning it could be a very long wait.
posted by Trevor Loudon at
3/11/2007 08:42:00 PM
1 Comments:
You know, this actually brought a knot to my throat. It must have been a beautiful moment for the two of you.
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