Hellooooo!
For those of you who aren't familiar with the International Adoption ("IA") process, I decided to post entries for the different steps Norm & I will need to take over the coming months. First is the Home Study.
The Home Study is a series of interviews with our social worker ("SW") during which EVERY aspect of our lives in scrutinized. We're asked very personal questions about our marriage, our families, our finances, our beliefs, our work experience, our pets, who we went to the prom with, who our Kindergarten classmates were, what type of deoderant we use, why I like the color purple....blah blah blah!
Okay, so it's really not quite THAT bad, but some of the questions are pretty intrusive. We will have to meet with the SW for a total of 4 times - the first is a joint interview, the 2nd is just me, the 3rd is just Norm, and the 4th she comes out to our house.
Yesterday was our first "official" interview. I had been pretty nervous about the meeting but as it turns out, it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. She asked us a lot of questions about our military background (she's not very familiar with the military AT ALL!). She then asked us about our strengths and weaknesses. And then...it was over! Sheesh - why did I get myself all worked up??!! In between the military & strengths/weaknesses, our conversation did take a few turns and we covered a lot of ground in that 60 minutes, but again it wasn't what I expected at all.
So, my personal interview is next Monday, and Norm's is next Wednesday. Wish us luck! Before those meetings we each have to write a 5 page autobiograpy. Oh joy! Actually, mine is already done, but I love to write! (As if you haven't figured that out yet...)
The autobiography asks questions about your family, childhood, etc. Sooooo, Robyn, now U.S. and Russian officials will know exactly how you tortured me growing up and why I'm so freaked out by eyeballs!! JUST KIDDING SEESTOR! :-)
Anyway, it's good to have this first interview done. Hopefully the next 3 will go just as smoothly!
Prayers for our Children
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5 comments:
Congratulations on your adoption journey! I have adopted from Russia twice. The second adoption was through CSS. You have made a great choice of agencies!! :) Wishing you a speedy, smooth process and the realization of your dream!
Jodi
Norm and Karyn: I am so happy for both of you. You will make wonderful parents. I wish you well in your journey and know that God will be watching over you now that you have made your decision. When we adopted Jason, I knew the joy of holding that little child and knowing that he was now in a better place in a loving family. This blog is so great and I will definatly be following your journey.
Barbara Welchman
Hi Norm & Karen!
It has been a long time! My mom (Barbara Welchman) just sent me your blog and I wanted to wish you both the best of luck. I get to hear bits and pieces of information about you guys when Auntie Judy is in CT, and this is just such wonderful news!
Vicki and I have gone through similar steps and just had a boy placed with us a couple of months ago. It is truly a blessing that we can provide a safe, loving home for these children.
I look forward to catching up and checking out your blog as updates are posted!!
Norm & Karyn, I want to wish you all the best. May God watch over both of you now and through out your journey.
Denise Kupyar
Guys,
Sounds like things are moving along well. Thanks for sending this link over. I'm glad to hear the joint interview was pretty painless. Looking forward to hearing about the individual ones. I knew it wasn't great in Russia but didn't realize how grim the situation actually was. You guys are doing an awesome thing.
Jeff
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