Timeline

May 2008
- call social services; register for classes.

July 2008
- Begin classes.

August 2008
- matched with our homestudy caseworker.

September 2008
- first homestudy visit;graduation from training classes; second homestudy visit

October 2008
- attended a foster/adopt social services picnic; final homestudy visit.

December 2008
- homestudy written and presented to divisional social services manager

January 2009
-homestudy conditionally approved

February 2009
-first referred child: Ezra

March 2009
-decided we couldn’t parent Ezra

June 2009
-sent our file out on an 11-year-old, Mychael

July 2009
-rejected as a home for Mychael, apparently in part because we’re a same-sex couple

-decided to work with Adopt America Network to try to be matched with children outside our state

August 2009
-got a copy of our homestudy and realized it had drastic errors

September 2009
-I connect with a high school classmate who’s now a social worker and thinks we might be a good fit for a child on her caseload, whom I eventually call Rowan

October 2009
-informed we’re going to staffing on a 10-year-old in a far-off state whom we found through AAN

November 2009
-Rowan comes to stay with us for Thanksgiving and we made a commitment to be there for him however he needed us

December 2009
-Rowan came back for Christmas, with the understanding that if the placement looked good he’d transition to us permanently in 2010
-Rowan ran away from our custody though he later turned himself in to police and we returned him to his RTC
-Lee decided that if we aren’t matched by June 2010 we’ll give up on our adoption plans

January 2010
-reactivated our profile with Adopt America Network