Ahh, a great deal of time was spent this summer completing the "dreaded' home study. Which consists of a social worker putting your entire life (financial, personal, legal, physical) into a report to receive an official stamp of approval. I can't imagine the adoption process being in the best interest of children without a thorough home study; however, it having your whole life viewed under a microscope is another step towards parenthood that sets us apart from most of our friends and our families.
Our social worker, Melissa (an adoptive parent herself) was wonderful and made the very tedious (an invasive!) process and easy as possible. We had to meet with her on three different occasions for the interview phase of the home study. We got to meet at our house which was nice. She also gave us opportunities to ask questions and educate us about the adoption process. The actual study of our home took less than 5 minutes, so the name is not an accurate portrayal of the process at all. But, oh well!
She is now finalizing the report and it should be ready in the next few weeks. We are finishing up our profiles and we should be "live" at the beginning of September!
