Adoption Education...

If you're not caught up on the life of the McClendons, click here.

Last Friday, we had an adoption educational meeting. The meeting started at 9am and we were actually the first couple there, surprisingly! There ended up being about 5 or 6 other couples there, and three adoption specialists who facilitated the meeting - one of which was our case worker. I won't bore you with every detail of the meeting, but I do want to share my favorite parts and a few things we learned.

But first - another classic picture!
This was at a BCM Banquet in '03 I think.

One of my favorite parts of the whole day was watching "16 and Pregnant." Honestly, in my head I always thought that show was ridiculous, but this was GOOD. We watched the story of Catelynn and Tyler, teenagers who got pregnant and decided to choose adoption for their baby girl. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend watching it. There is some language, so be forewarned, but overall it shares a beautiful adoption story. Getting to see the perspective of the birthmom was interesting - and emotional. I think most of the women in the room were crying. It was intense . . . and good.

My other favorite part of the day was talking with two adoptive families and a birthmom who all worked with our agency. We heard their stories from start to finish and then had a Q&A time with them. Each adoption story is unique, so I think it's great to listen to as many as possible. I feel like it gives me a fuller picture of adoption in general, and, in these cases, a picture of what it's like to work with our agency specifically.

There was so much more to the educational meeting, but I'll refrain from quoting bit by bit the novel I wrote in my personal journal! Other topics covered: adoption laws in MS (and yes, they vary by state - sometimes significantly), post adoption depression (similar to post-partum), attachment and bonding, and how to talk to children about adoption.

As we near real-time with this adoption process, my posts about it will become less frequent obviously. I've enjoyed catching everyone up on our life over the last 5 months. I intend to write about the adoption as it unfolds - hopefully quickly, but definitely all in God's amazing timing.

Next time: the individual interviews and adoption lingo!