Next Thursday we are going to meet with our social worker to read over our home study report. I thought this would be a good opportunity to let you know what the home study process has been like for us. Just a side note: Every province has different rules and regulations, and every family has a different experience... this is just our story!
Part of the requirement for adopting is having a home study done. After we were approved to work with His Hands Taiwan, we had to be approved by the Saskatchewan Government. After we were approved by the government we were given a list of independent social workers who we could contact to arrange to start the home study process with. We were fortunate to find a practitioner in Regina and were excited for our first meeting.
Now, nothing can prepare you for your home study. We read books on adoption process, we read blogs from people who were in the process of adopting or had completed adoption, we looked up the definition of home study... but yet nothing came close to explaining what the next few months would be like. Our experience has been wonderful, challenging, and extremely humbling. The home study is not a quick look at your house sort of event... it required pages and pages of reading, a very long thorough questionnaire for each of us, many reference letters, interviews, review of finances, education sessions and an actual tour of our home. We were required to be very honest about everything from our marriage to our parenting techniques, our plans for the future and our past. There were no stones unturned.
The day of the actual home visit was one of the funniest days. Let me set the stage for you... it was windy and very rainy. The ditch on the side of our gravel road was now full and starting to seep onto the road. The main highways to Estevan were both experiencing a small amount of flooding. I had been scrubbing the house top to bottom for at least two weeks now trying to keep the mud at bay. Twenty minutes before the social worker was set to arrive the power goes out. We quickly call Saskpower to let them know and start lighting candles for extra light. The time has come and she arrives, wind blown from the trip from Regina and not sure if she was going to make it in her little car along the almost flooded gravel road. She is excited to see us again and tour the house, but after two hours in the car she needs to use the bathroom. Now for us, if the power goes out nothing works.... including the water.... So off we go to find a lantern to light up the bathroom. Thankfully I had picked up some hand wipes to keep in my car the day before and run out to grab them. With this adventure under our belt we have a great session, learnt lots, answer more questions and talk about the house. All this time we sat around candle light. When she leaves for the day, we sit and laugh. All that work to impress her to show off the house and ourselves in the best possible manner, but all that really counts is who we truly are, and how we adapt to life...
We are excited for Thursday. It marks the end of this chapter and one step closer to bringing our child home. It is also a little bit nerve wracking, having to read a report about us and our ability to be good parents or not.
Thanks for being apart of this journey with us!
Blessings
