Monday, October 08, 2007

Assessment complete

This is Aaron. Post number three for me.

Hooray for us. Our social worker visits are over. The interviews went off without a hitch. We had heard some interesting stories before the first visit about the questions we may be asked and the way the social workers approach prospective adoptive parents. This was daunting for me. I have a reputation for talking very little and keeping my opinions to myself. For some reason I had no issues talking about my thoughts, life, family and all the rest with our social worker. I thought I may have set a record for the longest individual interview after mine took about 3 hours, I discovered that there had been some interviews much longer than mine.

The adoption case workers have a tough gig. Assessing the suitability of prospective parents is a massive responsibility and the future of the children is at stake. We were extremely fortunate. Our case worker is a star. She was easy to talk to and told us right from the beginning that if there were any issues with our expectations or our responses, she would not keep that a secret. At the end of the final interview I asked if there had been anything that we needed to clarify. We were all clear.

I can't wait to see what we sound like once the report is written, but it will be 1-2months before we get to read it.

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Vote for Jenny

I'd guess that many people involved with adoption from China have heard of Half the Sky foundation. Half the Sky aims to provide a home-like nurturing experience for China's orphans, so that each child has a caring adult in their life. They have some amazing programs with foster families, nannies and teachers, to support children in social welfare institutes.

Jenny Bowen, an adoptive mother, started Half the Sky ten years ago. Jenny is a contender to carry the Olympic Torch, running with eight children from a variety of Half the Sky's programs.

Please VOTE FOR JENNY (click the link and when the page opens click on Vote).