Fotorny Family Adoption

April 12, 2008

Today we had our home study done. The social worker was extremely nice and friendly, and very easy to talk to.  It was three hours of sitting at the kitchen table answering questions.  We basically told him our life stories from the time we were born up to the present, about our families, and our childhood.  Then we went through our schooling,our job histories, how we met each other, what made us decide to marry each other, what our marriage is like, our hobbies, lifestyle, parenting style, discipline procedures.  We had to describe each other and our kids. He talked to the boys about how they feel about the adoption. We even had to give a description of what we do on a typical day from the time we wake up until we go to bed (he even wanted to know what time we got up and what time we went to sleep).  We listed what we like to do for fun as a family, as a couple, etc.  We went through medical histories, finances, insurances, etc.  We had to tell why we are choosing to adopt, how our families and friends feel about the adoption, etc.  I gave him the profile I typed up about our lives (complete with some pictures) -- it was kind of like a family resume -- our lives in a nutshell.  He was very impressed with it.  I think that's everything (I may have forgotten something) and then 5 to 10 minutes he walked through the house to take a quick look. The home study went really well.  He told us as he was leaving that we had two very well behaved and nice boys. He is going to type up his report and email it to us to review.  We can change something if we want to.  Then when we send it back to him, he'll finalize and type it up officially.  Once that's done, then we will be able to actively look at children and we'll be able to actually inquire about the child's specific details.  Then if we find a child we are interested in, the child's social worker (or adoption agency) will review our profile and decide if we'd be a good match. I'm not sure how long it will take him to complete and finalize the home study.  Everything I've read online says the home study takes 120 days to complete but I think it will be done next month.  Thank you to everyone who prayed for us today and for all the encouraging emails!

April 11, 2008
     Tomorrow is our home study!!

I received my fingerprint report back already.  We were told it would take 4-6 weeks to get our letters stating that there weren't any criminal records connected to us.  But according to the date on my letter, it only took a week to process.  We are still waiting on getting Scott's letter. Hopefully it will come soon.                                

April 3, 2008

This adoption process is turning out to be a real test of my patience.  Overall, I'm doing really well.  I have my moments when I get really anxious because I just want to get my daughter and begin loving her.  I love her already and I don't even know who she is yet.  We can't inquire yet about any girls we're interested in until we have our homestudy completed.  I'm excited to announce that we have our homestudy scheduled for April 12th!!!  The homestudy will take about 3 hours to do.  The social worker sounds very nice and easy to talk to.  And I can say I'm not freaked out about this part of the process (I was freaked out about it months ago).  It's exciting that this is actually starting to happen.  I'm not sure how long the homestudy will take to process (according to what I've read on the Internet it can take up to 120 days to complete).  Hopefully it won't take that long but at least I'm prepared to be "patient" to get our approval.  Please continue to pray for our family and that God will lead us to our daughter.  We appreciate your prayer support for us!

March 24, 2008

There's only three places where you can get fingerprinted here in our general area.  One place conveniently is at PSU where Scott works.  So today the boys and I picked Scott up from work and we walked over to the place to get fingerprinted.  It was a bit expensive but oh well, it needs to be done.  It felt strange getting fingerprinted.  It was a neat process though that the boys enjoyed seeing -- they scan your fingerprints into a computer so no more messy ink pads. 

• For our family to stand strong in the spiritual battle, and that we won't get discouraged with delays, stories, etc.
• For God to clearly reveal to us who our daughter will be and where she is.
• That God will be working on her heart now, and ours, in order to prepare her and us to be a family.
• For paperwork and appointments to come together in God's timing.

Dear Family and Friends,                                          January 2, 2008
       We're starting this periodic newsletter regarding our adoption to update everyone since so many people have been asking us how the process is going.  You are a memberof our support system and we value your prayers for us as we begin this journey.
       Over the weekend we started filling out the paperwork to begin the process.  Both Scott and Traci need to have criminal background checks and child abuse history checks done as part of the home-study process. We are sending these forms out first because they will probably take the longest to process.  These forms have put our minds to work as both of us need to list every place we've lived, and even the people we have lived with, since 1975.  It's a good thing we started with these forms first!  So a lesson learned so far that we pass onto you as a little tip -- keep track of where you have lived because you never know when you'll need that information.  Certain jobs and even volunteer work can require you to get the background checks and you'll need to know that information for yourself.
       The first adoption agency we were going to work through is about a 45 minute drive away, and we were going to adopt through the SWAN (State Wide Adoption permanency Network).  God seems to have closed that door, but He is good and He seems to have opened another door for us.  We discovered there is an adoption agency right here in our town with about a 10 minute or less drive.  This agency isn't affiliated with SWAN (which would limit us to adopting only a child from Pennsylvania), but it is affiliated with AAN (Adopt America Network) which will allow us to adopt a child from any state. Maybe our daughter isn't from PA.
       Traci's biggest question regarding the adoption is -- out of over 100,000 children in the U.S. waiting to be adopted, how will we know which one child is the one for our family?  We guess that we will "just know" in our hearts.  We are seeking the Lord's guidance for every step of the way.  Traci admits she is a very impatient person, but God has graciously answered her prayer and has granted her a sense of peace and even a calmness for the long process ahead.
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God Answers Prayer with a License Plate
       A few days before Christmas, Scott decided we would ask God to reveal an answer to us on Christmas Day by using a license plate. On Christmas Day, we were driving to Traci's parents' house.  After the boys prayed for safe travel, Scott prayed asking God to use the license plate of the first car to pass us as soon as we got on I-80 to be the state that our daughter will come from.  We were coming up the entrance ramp of I-80 followed by another car.  We were just beginning to merge onto I-80 when the car on the ramp behind us impatiently drove out around us into the passing lane and flew by us really fast.  We could tell it was an out of state plate.  A few seconds later a car from PA went by.  We tried to catch up to the out of state car but it was driving too fast.  We slowed down to normal speed and by this time, the car was almost out of sight.  Michael prayed that God would let us catch up to the out of state car so we could read the license plate.  Within what seemed like a few seconds, we were caught up with just the PA car in between us.  We were planning to get off at the next exit to get gas and the out of state car got off at that exit too.  We were right behind it at the stop sign at the end of the exit ramp.  The license plate was from Kentucky.  The chances of a car from Kentucky being on that area of the highway are highly unlikely.
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       We are excited at what the new year will hold for us.  We know that God has a little girl set aside somewhere in the U.S. for us -- perhaps she's in Kentucky.  We can't wait to find out who she is, and to see how God will reveal who she is to us.  We would appreciate your continued prayer support through this process that we are just beginning.
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Prayer Requests:

• For our paperwork and home study process to come together in a timely fashion.
• For calmness as we go through the home study process.
• For Traci to get the house organized and ready for the home study visit.
• For God to lead us to the little girl He wants us to have.

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