Meeting with an Adoption Attorney

How can I even convey the excitement in my heart?! Monday morning, Jk and I attended our first ever appointment with an adoption attorney! I wrote down a few thoughts following the appointment, knowing they would be scattered, but wanting to record every detail so nothing would slip out of my memory.
A friend referred us to the law firm, saying she occasionally gets emails about potential birth families. Our interest continued to grow when we learned that this firm will hold a copy of our adoption profile book in their office to show birth mothers!
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My thoughts immediately after our appointment were:

I’m imagining a birth mother holding a stack of binders and books, containing information about couples who want to adopt her baby; somewhere in that pile, there is a spiral-bound profile for my husband and I, with our faces smiling on the front cover.

I want to know these women--all of these birth mothers who boldly consider their futures and the future of the babies inside of them. My heart melts at the courage and sacrifice of such a woman. I don’t know where she is coming from or the thoughts going through her mind, but I want to hug her. The thought of being considered for placement with a baby and sharing this burden and joy with a birth mother is just enough to give me hope. I spent a lot of time on our adoption profile book; writing and rewriting, adding pictures and editing the pages over and over. How is it possible to present yourself as capable, yet imperfect, humble, yet confident? Is it even fathomable to convey to a stranger how much you will love their child? I’ve never looked at our photos and wanted someone to like me as much as I want this birth mom to like me.
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So Monday morning, we woke up early, printed an adoption profile, and drove back home. It was too early to go to the appointment! Jk restlessly tried to nap, while I restlessly tried to read my book. We were both so anxious and excited.
The appointment was an initial consultation to meet with the adoption attorney who would be sharing our profile with birth mothers who came across her path.

We received great feedback about how to improve our adoption profile book (more pictures with family and friends; less wedding and early marriage photos; more pictures in general!). We learned about basic Arizona rules for adoption, as well as red flag situations and what to avoid.

We discovered that this office is currently holding around 40 adoptive couple profiles. Last year, they matched and helped finalize around 11 adoptions. So although the odds are narrow, we are ecstatic to be included among the profiles shown. Our questions were answered and our concerns were resolved.
The other great thing that happened Monday was that we received a call from Adoption.com, letting us know our online profile is ready to be published! The only thing left to do is wait for our bishop to sign off on his recommendation for us! We immediately called Bishop to let him know and he said he would respond as soon as the email came through.

It’s unbelievable that we are making so much progress because of how long we’ve been waiting for this. We are trying to take it one day at a time, but it feels good to move forward! Every step is a step closer to our baby!

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