The Monday after Isabella came home with us, *Jane* went to court. The judge would not allow her to sign a voluntary termination of parental rights because she felt like it was too soon to make that decision. She set another court date for the following month. In the meantime, Chris and I talked to our attorney about what we should do. He said that since this is a kinship adoption, there was a possibility that the state would pay the fees and do the homestudy required for adoption and not just temporary custody. After a little investigating, we found out that you have to make less than $40,000 per year as a household to qualify for this "streamllined" adoption. Our attorney suggested we hire an adoption agency and gave us several suggestions. One of the numbers he gave us led us to Leigh at Heart to Home and she came to meet with us to get the ball rolling.
To be approved by the state for adoption, you have to let them know everything about you. You have the legal part (child abuse and neglect check, Kentucky State Police check, FBI fingerprinting and background check, etc.) and the personal financial part (credit references, paycheck stubs, tax information). We had to have letters from our employers, the vet to ensure our dogs were up to date with vaccinations, and physical exams. We had to fill out a Family Profile which was page after page of questions. Where did you meet? When? How long did you date before you were married? What do you like about your partner? What would you change? How do you fight? And the list goes on and on. We also had to answer questions about our plans for parenting. How do you plan to discipline? How do you plan to talk to them about their adoption? How do you plan to talk to them about their birth parents? We also had to provide three letters from personal references and have another home study conducted. None of the things we were asked to do were particularly hard, but they were time consuming and a little intrusive at times. Add taking care of a newborn to the equation and you'll understand why it took nearly two months to complete the process.
Tomorrow, the Kentucky State Police check should be back and our adoption agency will be submitting our home study report to the state. At that point we wait for approval. After approval is granted (which could take several months), we will file a petition for adoption after Ella has been in our home for 6 months. That will be on July 29, 2011. Before we can file the petition to adopt, we must have Jane's parental rights terminated. At the follow up court date, the judge told her again to take some more time to think about her decision. I'm not sure why she feels so strongly that she wait, but all we can do is what she says.
It's been a busy and emotional journey and we aren't even halfway to our destination. We will be lucky if the adoption is final in August. Until then and every day after we will just continue to love this baby girl and take care of her and spoil her completely rotten! We love her so much and can hardly wait for the day that she shares our last name and we never have to look back!
For the next several months we will need your prayers. Please keep us in your thoughts as we continue along this road. We hope everything will continue to move along smoothly. I'll do my best to keep this updated as we have more information. I'll leave you with a picture of the sweet baby girl that I am so blessed to wake up to each morning!
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