Many going through the adoption process assume that, once their Home Study is complete, their adoption journey will follow a predictable course. Turn in profiles and paperwork. Wait. Get a call about a potential situation and agree to be profiled. Wait again. Receive the glorious news that you are selected. Wait some more. The baby is born. Wait one last time. And finally your baby comes home! And sometimes, that is exactly how it goes.
Yet other times, it goes very differently. Here is a paraphrase of the call we received on the afternoon of March 12th, 2008, “We have a healthy baby boy, born yesterday, is everything you have been hoping for and his mom is looking to make an adoption plan for him right now. If you are interested, she is ready to look at your profile immediately…in Staten Island.”
There wasn’t time to overnight profiles. Fortunately for us, we had an electronic version of our profile. Others didn’t. She was able to view our profile and select us that evening. We ultimately learned that she had chosen us at 9pm that night. We immediately packed a diaper bag, pulled the car seat from the closet and loaded the car for the trip that would change our lives. A little more than 12 hours after learning we were selected, we had driven from Western NY to NYC and had our son in our arms.
Would you be prepared for that call?
Does Adoption STAR have a digital copy of your profile, so that you could even be considered for a last minute referral?
Do you have a car seat just in case? A crib or play yard?
And are your funds readily available?
If Adoption STAR does not have an electronic copy of your profile (commonly referred to as a PDF), I would strongly encourage you to provide them with one. If you are struggling with the conversion, your Family Advocate can email you a step-by-step tutorial. If you don’t have the appropriate hardware/software, Profile Solutions* also has an option where this can be done for you. Last minute referrals are more common than you think and it’s important to consider your readiness.
“The secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes.”
― Benjamin Disraeli
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