Stage 1...

All our forms we were given during the first meeting (see previous blog) were sent off and on 20th June, we were officially accepted onto Stage 1 of the adoption process. As I write this blog, we are about halfway through. 

At the start of July, all the people we chose and asked to be our referees received their letters. They had to answer a handful of questions about us, basically an in-depth character reference and send it back by the end of July. We each had our employer reference, a family member reference and two friends references. As far as I know, these have all been sent back and completed. Because of my health situation, I also had to get a reference from both hospitals I am under.

We also completed a financial assessment which we will be taking next week when we attend our first training day. We have been signed up to adoption training/preparation days. There are 4 in total over the next 3 weeks and these give more information and preparation for adoption and any situations you might have to handle. We have to attend all 4 to be able to move to the next stage. It was quite handy that they fell during the summer holidays as I am off work and Josh booked a few weeks off so he could spend some time with me. We are both quite nervous but have heard that everyone is very friendly and all couples work together and support each other and you end up making friends for the journey. During these training days, we will be having a DBS check to make sure we have no convictions especially when it comes to children! 

We have also nearly completed a workbook that we have each been emailed. It is about 50 pages and goes through all aspects of our past including childhood, past relationships, family, feelings and our adoption information. It is very repetitive and some of the questions aren't relevant to us (for example, there are 2 pages on if we live with other adults and their thoughts and attitudes to adoption) but we understand that they are trying to build up a picture of us, our family and situation so they have as much information as possible when it goes to court. These workbooks need to be completed during Stage 1 but will be used, if we progress to Stage 2, by the social worker to reference and work from.

The last thing on the list for Stage 1 is getting a medical assessment done from our GP. After waiting a month and constantly contacting them to try and get someone who knows what the procedure is to help, we have finally been booked in for 23rd August. We have to pay £75 each for a 15 minute appointment. 

Then that is Stage 1 complete! From the initial letter about Stage 1, it looks like, as long as everything is completed and they are happy with the outcome and answers, we can move onto Stage 2 around the beginning of September. I am still nervous for this Stage 1 outcome purely because of my medical information. I don't want that to affect anything. If I didn't think I was capable or well enough, we wouldn't have started the journey in the first place. Please keep everything crossed for us and we will update once we have finished Stage 1 in about 3 weeks!