Forgive me...

So...I have a little confession to make.  Alex and I haven't really shared this with anyone yet, so don't be offended if you feel like you should have had some insider knowledge before I posted it here.  Yesterday, we attended a seminar for prospective foster care/adoptive parents.

Let that sink in for a minute.

Welcome back.  No, we haven't "given up" on the prospect of conceiving biological children.  No, we have not received information or advice from a physician indicating an inability to conceive or bear biological children.  No my parents don't know about this (shhhhhh!).  And no...we are not actively pursuing foster parenting or adoption.

Why the seminar, then?  Everyone knows adoption can take years.  Heck, two of my three Jamberry recruits (who also happen to be friends..."recruits" sounds so sterile) are currently pursuing or planning to pursue adoption.  I also have several close friends who have experienced infant loss, and believe me, I am well aware that pregnancy and child-bearing is not something to take for granted.

Alex and I are not emotionally at a place where we feel called to pursue adoption immediately, but we figure it doesn't hurt to begin the process before we get to that point.  I fear we would become emotionally "desperate," for a child and then have to ache that much longer if we waited to do our research until we were already in those trenches.

Which brings me to the seminar.  We attended a 45-minute orientation for people who are interested in learning more about foster care and adoption.  It was really just a basic overview with information about parameters for families and steps in the process.

The next step would be to take part in a 21-hour training program (3-hours a week for 7 weeks), which includes the paperwork and home study portions of the certification process.  There is actually a training series starting this Saturday, but it is overbooked already, and like I said, we're not ready to go there yet.  The next series begins in January, so we are looking at that option.  Waiting a few months will give us time to discern this aspect of our lives, and also to see if my health situation irons itself out.

(Side note:  Typically, they start a new training series every month, but there are already over 100 applicants for the October series, so they decided to cut the November series in order to effectively manage the existing applications.  A good problem to have, yes!  ...In Louisiana, we are still desperately in need of foster families, but it just takes time to catch up with the paperwork.  It's also worth noting that we're not currently interested in fostering, but in Louisiana families are dually certified to both foster and adopt.)

...There you have it.  Shall I proceed with making my Act of Contrition?  ;-)

-Lauren

And if you're interested in following my friend Laura's adoption journey, you can check out her blog here.