He never rang...

A second child... did we want a second child. That was the next question after we adopted our daughter. We discussed and examined the idea and decided we didn't want to be a single child family. We lodged a second application and waited for a social worker to be assigned to do the necessary paperwork.

Feeling our way

The early days of bringing our daughter home were wonderful yet stress filled at the same time. My fear of not being able to cope after so many years of being childless loomed large at this point. I had spent years bemoaning my lack of children yet that very lack afforded me the ability to do pretty much as I pleased without thought to the logistics of a child. Would I cope with being responsible for a small person, for being their constant, basically their whole world. In the main I found being a Mum really easy but there were small things that upset the proverbial apple cart.

Waiting...

Once you're accepted into the Adoption program there is no way of knowing how long you will wait to be selected as the new parents of a child or even if you will be selected.

At that time in Victoria the process from the other side of the adoption was that a birth parent can indicate their interest in relinquishing their child but could not sign any consent forms for a period of two weeks after the birth. They then had a grace period of 28 days which could be extended before final consent was given

Open your hearts, and everything else for DHS

I wrote a letter. I got a reply. DHS accepted our "expression of interest" and we got to go to a "training session" where they did their best to put us off the idea of adoption. We got to hear from an adoptee who was anything but happy and content with their life. We got to hear from a Birth mother with similar angst. We heard all the bad stuff then we got to hear about the rules and regulations. You have to married for a minimum of two years, you have to be under the age of 26 as at Jan 31st in the year of application and no more than 40 at the same date if applying for a second or subsequent child.

No longer travelling that road

I feel for couples in the situation described in this article http://tinyurl.com/y972twc but I really do wish the media would be a little more accurate in what they report and how.

Yes, the various states of Australia have fairly stringent regulations regarding adoption but where do they mention that some of these requirements are those of the government in the country the adoption is being sought from? Where is the mention of the fact that most of the requirements put in place by the relevant state also apply to local adoptions?