We arrived at the information session only five minutes late - what else would you expect from a couple that is habitually late?
We found our seats and as we took turns introducing ourselves, we realized that the gays were more abundent than those "opposite-sex" couples; 60:40. We also weren't the only young couple - there was another late twenties/early thirties lesbian couple who live nearby...and they were "normal" too. This was the opposite than what we expected, since from reading numerous books on open adoptions, the typical couple who adopts are heterosexual, mid-thirties to fourties, and usually have experienced infertile issues. It was heartwarming to see.
We realized that our fears of unhealthy babies and low-class birthmoms from imaging mulitple types of birthmoms should disappear after we are matched with a birthmother. I hope that they are right since we have imagined:
- a malnurished highschool girl
- a dirt poor highschool girl, going against her parent's wish to keep the baby
- an alcoholic and/or drug-addicted young woman
The information session (and author Dan Savage in The Kid) clarified a part of our fear finding that the majority of women who put their baby up for open adoption are college age who have had an untimely pregnancy and want nothing but the best for their child. These women can see into the future, find the strength to put their unborn child first, and are rewarded by experiencing the benefits of open adoption and seeing their biological child's happiness.
From the info session, we had our questions answered and learned that we were already pretty knowledgable about the open adoption process. We also learned that open adoption is the way for us to start a family (unlike the couple behind us who were only concerned about genetic testing and could NOT believe that the birthmom can't be forced into genetic testing; they left during the next break).
Now, knowing that SML is on the waitlist for UNC Nursing School, we will wait to sign-up for the weekend intensive class with the adoption agency, since we want to start this process with SML enrolled in a program.
For now, we continue to wait and read everything we can find on open adoption.
