Finalization

You get to the step of finalization. So lets walk through the steps.

• Step 1: Paperwork – Background Checks, Health Checks, Credit Checks, etc.
• Step 2: Home Study – Normally 3 visits. If a husband and wife are adopting, one visit with both parents, one visit with the husband and one visit with the wife.
• Step 3: Go active – This is the waiting game. You either wait on the Biological Mother to choose you or you wait on the State to choose you as the parent.
• Step 4: Matched with the child or perspective parent.
• Step 5: Consent by the biological mother and father
• Step 6: Follow-up visit typically by the Home Study provider.
• Step 7: Finalization

Now what is Step 7? You have the child in your custody and now is the hearing. In our case, we had the mothers consent but the father was out of the picture. We put in the local paper of the father a newspaper clipping that had all of the legal ease about the child being born and asking for him to step forth. He didn't. Our attorney filed that with the court. After that we went back and forth with the judge for a while. Then we had our hearing. We went into the courtroom and the judge called us back to his office. We signed the papers in his office, took some pictures and off we went. After all was said and done it was a let down. No struggle at all.

I tell you this story to remind you that to enjoy the journey at this point. You are at your end. You as parents have the child and you have done everything in your power to get to this point. Let the attorney do his job and take it easy. You are at the end of the line. The child will take your name and off you go.