Posted by Nonsense Nancy at 4/23/08 2:19 p.m.

They are out there and you will find them when the time is right. I wont ask anymore. Nor will I check the website either. Just excited for you to find them.

Posted by WAnonymous at 4/24/08 4:25 p.m.

adoptuskids.org will let you search for children by age, race, severity of disabilities, sibling groups, etc in various states that are legally available for adoption.

You could call the social workers of children that you may be interested in and ask for additional information, and even meet the children if you are really serious.

I think that all of the children on that website are subsidized adoptions. If you were willing to take on more than one child, you could do a huge favor for siblings that might not be able to stay together otherwise.

Posted by Susan Metters at 4/24/08 5:49 p.m.

W - thank you for your comment! It's actually funny because we are totally on the same page. My hubby and I are hoping to adopt a sibling pair. (We were willing to go up to 3, but our social worker recommended not more than 2 since we are first time parents.) We actually check the website you mentioned and also nwae.org nearly every day. I love adoptuskids.org because they do have such a good search engine.

We have inquired about kids and even had our homestudy sent off for different children but so far we haven't been chosen. Unfortunately even if we are extremely interested in a child or sibling group the kids' social worker can decline us as a good match. We'll keep trying though!

Nancy - you don't have to stop asking or stop looking at kids! I love that you are so excited. You will be their Auntie Nancy so you can bug me as much as you want!

Posted by Mizz Givens at 4/24/08 7:32 p.m.

I'm so excited for you, and for your children, whoever and wherever they are. I truly am thankful for people like you who are willing to adopt, and adopt older children and siblings at that! I don't know what all you are considering, but I'm wondering if you're open to children of color or children with disabilities?

Posted by Susan Metters at 4/24/08 9:58 p.m.

Mizz Givens - Yes, we are definitely open to children of any ethnic background. We are also open to any religious background as well, since these kids may already have a preference (or at least a familiarity) with a certain religion.

As for disabilities, that gets a little more complicated. I think I will actually blog about that. We are definitely open - and expecting - to adopt children with special needs. At the same time we have to be honest with ourselves about which special needs we can realistically take on and which ones we can't. At one point we actually had to fill out a checklist and check off the special needs we felt comfortable taking on. Talk about a guilt-inducing exercise! For every box we didn't check we felt like awful people. But we did check a bunch!