Beginnings

Ever since my husband and I decided to become foster parents I have been obsessively stalking reading every Foster Parent blog I could find. So.... knowing full well that blogging is something that my pretentious college self started doing in 2007 and that in 2014 it is something that even Barney Stinson is done with, I am starting a blog in hopes that years down the road, my experiences will provide some insight into the craziness that I am signing up for.


A quick background: I am 27, live in the south, and have been married for almost 5 years to the most wonderful man God put on the planet. I love my job, my friends, my family, and aside from being bullied for being chubby with frizzy hair in middle school, my life has been pretty easy.

Until God decided that having a baby (something that tons of undeserving people get to do) was going to be a challenge for me.

After a miscarriage and a year of (unsuccessfully) trying, one day I looked at my husband and asked "what are we waiting for?"

We always said we were going to adopt no matter what. Adoption has been a part of my family for generations and we wanted to continue the tradition.

So my husband made a very typical "him" response and said "You".

From there we went through what I think everyone goes through when they decide to adopt. We talked with friends, we called people, got information packets, prayed, cried, thought maybe this really isn't for us, until we finally landed on becoming foster parents with the intent to adopt.

A lot of reasons factored into our decision, but the bottom line was that these children are here NOW, they need a home NOW and based on my experience with kids and foster parents, WE are in an ideal situation to provide the kind of home that they will need.

So for those of you are just starting the process, or for those of you curious about how it works, here is what I understand so far.

1. Kids come into foster care as an absolute last resort. In my opinion, they should get taken away a little sooner. So when they come to you, they have been through the ringer.

2. The buzz word that you will hear over and over and over again is "reunification". That is the goal. They WANT the parents to get their kids back. They will do everything they can to get the kids back to mom and dad. They do NOT want you to adopt. Period.
3. In my state, a parent has to up nine months to get their act together before the courts begin looking for other placement options. This could mean adoption by a family member, adoption from a foster parent, or adoption from  an adoptive family.
4. In my state. licensing happens REALLY FAST! We are enrolled in a class called PRIDE that lasts for 9 weeks. After we finish the classes and turn in our paperwork, we will have a homestudy. After the homestudy, it will take about 30 days to get our license. After that, a phone call could come at any time.
5. A foster parent has a lot of control when it comes to accepting a child into their home. You can choose the age, gender, race, amount, and situation. However, that does not mean that the case workers will always call you with what you sign up for. YOU CAN SAY NO.


We have decided to foster girls from infancy to 6 years old(that is a long story)we are wanting to do one at a time but are open to two.
All of this means that we have A LOT to do to get ready in  a short amount of time. Hope this will help somebody some day.:)