Return of the 'Night Editor'

The rumors of my death have been, well, nonexistent. Anyway, Sandi has officially left me in charge of writing up our experiences at the group orientation meeting we attended in Knoxville today. Without further ado, away we go . . .

Much of what went on at the meeting was repetition for us; thanks to our previous waiting families meetings, our assigned reading, and Sandi's copious research, we are quite familiar with Bethany's services and many of the issues that we as adoptive parents must confront. However, the first event of the morning was of particular value to me. We started off with a panel discussion involving people from all sides of domestic adoption -- a birthmother, a couple who adopted, and two adult adoptees who themselves adopted children. Through our reading, I have learned much about the perspectives of adoptive parents and birthmothers, but the stories of the two adoptees, in a way, completed the puzzle for me. I was particularly interested in one woman's story of her search for her birthparents.

Oddly enough, perhaps the most sobering event of the whole day was nowhere to be found on the agenda for the orientation. After lunch, each couple in attendance was asked to talk about themselves for a moment, as well as share what they had taken from the earlier panel discussion. The very first woman to speak said that she and her husband had one biological child before discovering infertility issues which made another pregnancy infeasible. I spent most of the rest of the day pondering the weight of a situation like that and, moreover, what our adoption journey could entail. For all we know, the boy or girl we adopt could be the only child our birthmother could ever have; that can give one serious pause to think about one's role as an adoptive parent.

All right -- time to watch a movie where dozens of dudes beat the stuffing out of each other. I need to unwind for a while.

Have a great weekend!