Now that I have been on this forum for a bit I feel comfortable sharing some personal aspects of my life. I am a 36 adoptive mother to a wonderful boy named Ethan. He was placed with us in August 2005 by a birthmom who was currently parenting a daughter and just couldn't be a single mom to another child. We are currently waiting to be chosen again for another baby. I just thought it would be cool to see who else has adopted (or is even adopted themselves).

Congratulations!
I have been a foster mom for years now and in addition to my own biological daughter I adopted 4 teenagers.
I'm currently going through homestudies to adopt from my indian tribe! Lots to be done but worth it in the end.
I'm a single mom, but I love my kids so much that I wouldn't have it any other way.
I might go back in time though and warn myself how difficult the teenage years are though. or give myself a book about it.

How do you get involved in foster care? How do you know if the baby you get is healthy?

Your state should have a department of Life & Family (or something like that) which would include the division of foster care. The downside to foster care and even adoption is that you sometimes don't know the health history but the caseworkers try to provide as much info as they can.

So, weird. I was just coming here to post this very topic!

I'm an adoptive Mommy, and an adult Adoptee as well. As a matter of fact, we were the first dual generation 'Christian Homes' Family ever (because my son and I were adopted through the same agency!

Gryffin is such a joy. He is four now (how did that happen so quickly?) and so full of energy!

That's cool you were a dual generation! My MIL and BIL are both adopted so of course they love having Ethan in our family! We are hoping to be able to adopt a girl the next time but if we get another boy, that is fine with me!!

I went through our state first, when I lived in Oklahoma. I was lucky in that all of my foster children were perfectly healthy. I'm trying to adopt through my Indian tribe now and the Indians do all they can to make sure that the babies they place have good medical records, seeing as indians have a hard time with things like diabetes, lupus, and things like that. But as someone else said, sometimes you know nothing of the child you get. One of my adopted daughters is mentally handicapped (I knew when I adopted her as a teenager however)
I would suggest if you are looking into it, to look into your state agency (child protective services, DHS, SRS, or whatever it is called in your area) but don't stop there, look into private foster agencies too, they have a few in my state. And if you are of any special religion, nationality, etc. look up online for agencies that specialize in the placement of children into homes that they came from. (ex. native american child into a native american home)

My biological father was adopted and so is my daughter's. Her father was given up when he was 9 and he had a rough time. Not that it gives him an excuse to be the jackoff he is.. but I can't imagine giving up a 9yr old, but then again maybe he lost his family and had no other opton. My father was an infant. I was adopted by my dad and I am with my biological mother, I know it's not the same.

The reason I am posting is because I wanted to say congrats on the adoption, that was first. But I want to adopt a child someday. Be a foster parent with the option of adopting. I think it's a noble thing to take in a child you didn't carry and love it as if you had. I have other reasons but that is a big part of it, giving love to a child that needs it.

I just have to tell you all how wonderful you are! I was adopted so I love hearing adoption stories. Thanks for being such wonderful moms!!

This is why I love Twilight Moms! My one stop shopping for all things support and fun!

My husband and I are in the final stages of our homestudy. We are expecting a referral for a baby boy (or maybe girl) from South Korea in May or June. Our baby will be 5 months old at the referral stage and we will have to wait 3-6 months to travel to South Korea to pick our baby up, but we now know it will be before the end of the year. It's been three years strong now since we started trying to have a family, so seeing the light at the end of the tunnel is blinding and really exciting.

I'm a member of all sorts of adoption support groups, and while those are informative, I like the idea of being able to come on Twilight Moms and "chit chat" about adoption, either big issues or small. Unlike on the adoption lists, I feel like you're all my "sisters" because we have Twilight in common. What a great feeling.

As a side note, we had to chose our baby names in order to have them ready for the referral paperwork when it comes through for our baby. In Korea, the meaning of the name is much more important than the sound of the name and they like you to keep that in mind when you chose American names. For a boy, we chose Seth. For a girl, we chose .... Esme. Esme means "one who is loved by many." We loved the meaning and thought it was so appropriate! My best friend recently pointed out that both of our names are characters from Twilight. While this truly was unintentional, I'm going to avoid mentioning it to my husband all the same! He's feeling a little jealous of Edward and Jasper as it is.

I'm glad to be here with you ladies!

Esme for a girl would be great! I am partial to that name since she is one of my favorite characters from the book (next to Edward). I know how strong that desire to be a mother can be and that she loves all her "adopted" children so much even though she didn't give birth to them.

Good luck with everything! I haven't ever adopted internationally but I knew a few who have and all the paperwork that comes with it!

This is great to hear all of your stories! EsmeM48, you will have to keep us posted! I absolutely love the name Esme. I don't think my hubby would go for it though.

My husband and I will be graduating our training with CAS next week! It's been since January that we've been doing our P.R.I.D.E training (mandatory in Canada for foster and adoptive parents), so it is nice to finally be almost there. We've had our home visit, and just have to have our home study done and then we will get placed!

I am adopted and I was my parents foster child before they adopted me. My husbands parents were foster parents and adopted his youngest brother. Both of us grew up in homes that fostered, so when we had problems having a child, we decided it would be nice to become foster parents to help children out that need some extra tlc. We will be fostering with a view to adopt, and will take infants with special needs. CAS in our area is in desperate need for foster families to take infants because only one parent can work. I work from home so it works out perfectly.

I have a question for those that have adopted. How do you feel about openness????

For me it depends upon the situation and the level of openess.

The bm of our first son didn't want any contact but at least we met her and have some pictures. I'm not sure to about the whole visiting and all that but it will probably just depend upon the situation and your level of comfort. Every situation is different. Congratulations though on your decision to foster adopt! (That is usually what it is called here in the states when you foster with the intention of adopting).

Thanks lollylew!

I am excited because we just graduated our P.R.I.D.E. training tonight!!! We have been doing this since January and it seems like it`s been forever. We have learned a lot, more than I thought we would actually. Now we just have to finish the rest of the home study.

Best of luck with the homestudy, Care! All the paperwork - ugh!We finish our homestudy officially on the 18th of this month - so I feel your pain.