Post Placement Visit 1

       About an hour ago, our social worker left from our 1st post placement visit. Like the earlier homestudy process, the post placement process will vary by state. This variation will include both the number of post placement visits required for finalization and their content. Our social worker actually had a print-out with her since Roo's birth state (which will also be the state of finalization) has a specific list of questions that they want asked, and these questions are different than the standard questions of our home state.

        So first things first. Our ICPC contract states that there must be at least 3 post placement visits, one each month. Finalization in Roo's birth state normally takes 4-6 months. If the finalization goes to the 6th month mark, there needs to be an extra 6 month post placement visit. Each post placement visit costs $250, so the 3 together added another $750 to our total adoption expenses. Our social worker said that the ones that go to 6 months, in her experience, usually involve a biodad who has not signed. These would be cases such as unknown paternity, rape, unwillingness to sign, inability to locate him, etc. Since Ben signed all of his paperwork and there are no complicating legal situations, she anticipates ours to be more towards the 4 month side.
        The questions in the post placement visit were very straightforward, and there was no inspection component. She wanted a recap of the 1 month well child pediatrician visit , including length. weight, developmental milestones, and any health concerns. Then we talked about day to day routine (how much she eats, how much she sleeps, where and when she sleeps, am I still planning to be home with her) and adjustment (how has our son has reacted to her, is she recognizing our voices, has she bonded with us and us to her). Then there were some personal questions that I really wasn't expecting. How has a second child changed your marriage? (Apparently "It hasn't" is not an acceptable answer) Describe differences in the emotions and bonding that you feel towards her in comparison to your biological child (um, none?).  Do you think you will adopt again and why or why not?
        That was pretty much it. But again, I got the impression that each state differs greatly about what goes into a post placement visit, so this may not actually be a very helpful update! :)