Another Baby Todd

It is complicated comparing this adoption process and timeline with our first adoption.

In late 2019 I woke up from my second endometrial removal surgery, still in the “coming out of anesthesia” room, and I knew three things:
1. This surgery actually worked
2. I would finally get to live without pain
3. It was time to start the adoption process to grow our family
On January 8th 2020, Sam and I pre-applied to begin the adoption process and were accepted into the program on January 14th.

A lot of 2020 is a blur in my mind. But I crisply remember the feelings I carried as we went through lockdowns, spoke with friends, family, and coworkers around the world, and poured ourselves into accomplishing the paperwork for adopting Amara. In the midst of everything 2020 brought the world, we had a beautiful lamp, our future daughter, to bright us hope and determination.

In spite of our speed and hard work as we worked on our first round of adoption paperwork, it wasn’t until 8 months later – August 2020 – that our Home Study was actually finalized. And guys, honestly, we weren’t lazy by any means. It just is a lot of work.

So here we are again and I am confident we have second child syndrome. Which is great by the way. We know what we are doing, what is needed, how to find the right people and complete the right appointments, and we aren’t constantly second guessing “did I do that right?” because we have been here before. And that’s just us because I won’t stop being thankful to the people who have rushed through their reporting process to deliver documents that should take 4-6 weeks and put them in our hands in days instead. These people are my heros.

Ok, ready to really compare now?

Adoption 2020 – Application to Home Study Draft: 6 Months
Adoption 2025 – Application to Home Study Draft: 3 Weeks

Adoption 2020 – Application to Approved Home Study: 8 Months
Adoption 2025 – Application to Approved Home Study: Stay tuned, fam, we are getting close!

With lots of love and gratitude,
Stephanie for the family

Throwback to 2020 Sam and Stephanie.