# New to this message board. Going to adoption panel in May



## Jayne B (Feb 2, 2004)

Hello everyone, I'm new to this message board.  My DH and I have just finished our last form with our SW.  Our CRB and medicals came back fine.  Our references have all returned their forms and we had no problems with that.  They are due to be intereviewed over next few weeks along with my parents.

our wonderful SW (she has been great) has said we are aiming for adoption panel in May.  We can't wait, we are so excited!  We have found the adoption journey relatively stressfree, although it is emotionally draining in the sense of what you have to write about, and tiring after SW visits.  However, we are very excited about adopting.

We are are looking to adopt a child or 2 siblings under the age of 5 years.  However, wondered if there are any people out there who adopted 2 siblings, just for a bit of advice.  We are still pretty open at this stage and are leaving it open on our Form F.

Also did everyone who adopted go to their adoption panel?  We have a distance to travel, but are thinking about going, I guess it is nerve wracking whatever.  Are you pleased you went to the panel in person?  Any advice greatly appreciated.  Wishing everyone every success with their adoptions.

Jayne


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## alex28 (Jul 29, 2004)

Hi Jayne - just wanted to say welcome and well done on your looming panel date!!!

We are about to start HS and are lookiing at a sibling group under 5 also so i will keep an eye out for replies.  IM sure someone will be along soon!

Where abouts are you from if you dont mind me asking?


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## Milktray (Jun 12, 2005)

Hi Jayne

Welcome onboard  

We are looking to adopt a sibling group under 3 (yikes I hear you all say!!).  We have just swapped LA's as the first one was REALLY slack.  We are having our CRB's done as we speak and the letters have gone our to our referees who will also be called to arrange interviews with the SW.

Have you completed your homestudy yet then?  Yours sound like it's all flying along!!  Lucky you!

T x


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## magenta (Nov 2, 2004)

We are only adopting one child but we HAVE to be at the panel - cos they ask questions about your form and challenge certain bits etc just to get as full a view as possible before approving you.  

magenta x


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## KarenM (Jul 30, 2002)

Hi Jayne

I am the proud Mummy of two siblings. Eldest turned two the week after she moved in with us in Nov 04 and her sister was 13 months when she moved in with us in Dec 04. They hadn't lived together until then.

We attended our approval panel, but did not attend the panel to approve the match to our two girls. We had to go to the approval panle to answer questions from the panel.

Feel free to join us on the main chat thread. There's a list at the start with who's who....

http://www.fertilityfriends.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,47681.0.html

Good luck
Karen x


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## Jayne B (Feb 2, 2004)

Hi thanks everyone for your replies.  We have the choice if we want to attend our Panel or not.  It's great to hear from you all, and thanks for taking the time!  KarenM that's great about your children, and good to hear from someone who adopted a Sibling group.  Lot to think about really, although still feel pretty open about it.  Did you know always you wanted to adopt a Sibling grp?  

We live in Cumbria.  Our adoption course was in Lancashire and we met a great bunch of folk from the North.  Some of us have kept in touch.

However, it's quite isolating (isn't a lot of this fertility journey!) as it's not everyday you meet people who have adopted.  However, it is surprising sometimes, and the more we have gone into this, the more people turn out to be adopted !

Yes our adoption journey has moved well, we have a brill SW which we are thankful for, it's through a charity as we did approach SS direct but they never responded to our calls and e:mails.  Obviously this did not instill much confidence in them for us!  So after a few chances, we decided to go with an agency that would support us all the way, during and after adoption.

Our home studies have gone well, obviously some of the forms are harder than the others, but we found as long as you keep talking through it all it really helps.  Even though the SW visits are draining when going through the forms, we always did something nice together after she had been, go out for lunch or a walk etc.  Helps you collect your thoughts too and it is all part of your journey to get your child, so instead of having a scan you have had your SW visit, so we celebrated it!

We made the forms move in faster by e:mailing our replies back to our SW.  Obviously not everyone can do this, but it gave her a head start by receiving our form a week before the visit.  It's actually quite cool to look back and have the forms saved to see what you did write (oodles, by the way, I found it easier to just write lots down, and then edit it, the more you write the easier your visit is)

Our home study is complete, we just need our referees to be interviewed and then our Senior SW will come visit us before panel.  
Yeah, I'm still finding my way round this site, so apologies if I haven't posted this right!  

Wishing you all every success   Jayne x        (PS only just worked out how to put the little bit about us at the bottom of our msg!!)


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## Barbarella (Jun 11, 2005)

Hi Jayne

It's nice to read about your experience, which is very similar to ours (we're unexplained too... for 8+ years)...!!  We have finished our home study now.. still got lots of homework to do mind you... and we go to panel on 27th April, all being well.  We have had a great time with the home study as our SW is wonderful. She's really on our wavelength and I think that is half the battle. We found some of the sessions draining too, but on the whole really enjoyed it.

We're being assessed for a single child or sibling group of 2 under 3.  We are still unsure about suddenly going from none to 2 children overnight, and I suppose we are really hoping to be matched with 1... but we're open to it and will make decisions when we need to.  I know we could cope with 2, it's just that I don't want it to be too much of a chore.. I want to really enjoy it... and I wonder if with 2 it may be a little bit too much.  KarenM is an inspiration though... 

Ever since we started the home study, we really have felt this is the right path for us, and given us our reason for not conceiving...!  We just feel that everything we have been through, from our childhoods right through to now, is like a jigsaw puzzle and this is the last piece.  I never thought I would feel this way.

Anyway, look forward to chatting with you.... looks like we're not too far apart with our panels.  Best of luck to you... it's so exciting isn't it !!!

Cxx


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## superal (May 27, 2005)

Hi Jayne

Just wanted to welcome you to the boards & wish you well on your journey, you'll get lots of support from the lovely bunch of people who are on these boards.

We've adopted 2 children but separately, our DS when he was 3years 10 months old, that was 9 years ago & our DD who was 9 months old & that was 4 years ago.

Love
Andrea
xx


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## Mummyof2 (Jul 31, 2003)

Hi Jayne, my dh and I are due to go to panel on 11th of May.  We have just finished our home study.  We are looking for one child 0-3 years as we already have a son who will be 5 in 2 weeks.  I think it is advisable to go to panel as you can answer any questions in person.  Sometimes you are turned down in your absence due to lack of information    Wouldn't want that to happen  

Come and post on the board KarenM linked you to.  See you there  

Jennifer


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