Agency Number Two - The Call

Well, we expected to have a little bit more emotional control on call #2, but alas, this did not happen! Okay, maybe I shouldn't say "we" as much as "I" because Jon was able to scarf down a packet of peanut butter crackers 2 seconds before the call. I think he was trying to play it cool though. Me, I was shuttering like a leave and it felt like someone was shooting fireworks off inside my body. So, how did it go?

AMAZING. AWESOME. PERFECTLY

Agency Two made our decision VERY easy. There were so many advantages to this agency, but the main positive point was that our guts told us this agency was right. The Client Manager was a wonderful woman who answered so many of our questions and went above and beyond the call of duty in regards to the information she gave us. Unlike the Agency One, she looked up if any birth mothers from their agency had selected a same-sex couple in the state of MN before. And guess what, there had been two!! And the people lived only a few miles from us. She passed on our contact information to them and we are hoping they contact us so we can hear about their journey and take any pointers from them.

The ONLY unfortunate thing about this agency is that they only take birth mothers from two west coast states, whereas Agency One took birth mothers from any U.S. state. This significantly reduces our exposure as Agency One places about 200 children a year, whereas Agency Two only places about 40 to 60 children a year. However, Jon and I do truly believe a few things:

1. Quality over quantity. You cannot replace a feeling in your gut that one Agency is a better fit for you than another.
2. It is all part of a master plan. We chose the agency that we felt was right for us and if we don't get a baby as a result, we won't regret it. At least we can say we tried it the right way.
3. The pool of available adoptive parents is going to be smaller with a smaller agency.

This agency is located on the West Coast and our next step is an adoption seminar that takes place over two days in September where we get all of our questions answered. They bring in lawyers, parents who have adopted children from their agency, birth mothers who have given their children up for adoption, etc. We also will have to officially interview to be accepted into the agency. Our calls to these agencies were our chance to interview them, but now the tables get turned.

Time to make some travel plans, start ramping up on our reading, and preparing ourselves to answer the most difficult questions of all.......how is that for a cliffhanger?