Did you know you can drown in paperwork, feel completely vulnerable, and have no privacy? All for the low, low price of a home study.

No stone is left unturned. No privacy remains. We are one very open book.

There are mixed views about the paperwork but no matter how you look at it the fact remains that it must be done.

Here’s the checklist. If anyone out there is considering adoption or thinks they may want to adopt in their future, the workload of paperwork is intense.

Without further ado, the list:

• Consultation meeting
• Contact information
• Agency services agreement
• Personal information (DOB & SSN’s)
• Marriage and divorce dates
• Information for each child currently in the home (if applicable)
• Previous employment history
• Bishop & Ward information (agency specific)
• Contact information for everyone who will be submitting a reference letter
• Release of personal information
• Bishops letter of recommendation (specific to our agency)
• Confidentiality agreements
• Financial statement (both written and electronic)
• Medical reports for each (including children, if any)
• Employment verification
• Letter to expectant parents
• Photo collage (specific to our agency)
• Additional state-specific paperwork
• Privacy practices agreements
• 10 hours each of adoption classes
• 4 personal reference letters
• Online background check
• Fingerprints
• Copy of marriage license
• Copy of sealing certificate (specific to agency)
• Copy of birth certificates
• Copy of divorce decrees (if applicable)
• Copy of last year’s tax return
• Proof of infertility
• Health insurance information
• Parent’s background information
• Sibling’s background information
• “Matching Information” (what we look like, our interests, etc.)
• Questionnaire’s for each (we answer questions about each other)
• The actual home study walk-through
• Then you create and perfect your profile (this can be time consuming and on multiple websites)

That’s the short list. If you’ve had the pleasure of checking off this never-ending list, you’re a saint. Patience is something that adoption is teaching us. There is no rushing anything. Even though we did bunker down and finished all the paperwork as quickly as possible – we still wait. And wait. And wait.

Waiting is kind of like Disney World. You can’t wait to get there and wait in line. It can feel like FOREVER to get there. And once you’re there, it can feel like an eternity to get out of the humidity and sun and actually get on a ride. But the payoff is oh-so-worth it. We’ve got a feeling that adoption is even more magical than Disney World. Oh how we can’t wait!