A snapshot!

Every good business has a strong marketing campaign and is up to date with today's latest trends.  Currently this CEO knows nothin about none of that!  Truly in this process there is a bit of a marketing component.  Our family is putting ourselves out there as open and available to expand.   

As I mentioned when I went through the gamut of getting started a key component was our Family Bio. The family bio provides a snapshot of your family to potential birth parents.  So how the heck do you provide an enticing honest presentation of yourself on four 8 X 10 pieces of paper and some slots of pictures?!?!

We love the Beach!  We love family trips!  

 One of the many reasons we selected ASC as our agency is that they collect all the information and then put together your family Bio.  Some of the agencies we looked at provided you a template or for an additional fee they would put your bio together.  Regardless this is a common tool used in the adoption process.  Birth mothers will describe a home environment they are looking for to place their child in and based off of her description they will pull familys that meet what is described.  So we put things like lost child in my own home for 25 minutes, keep the floors so clean that we eat off of them instead of on our kitchen table, and closets are for child confinement right?    And of course an enticing family photo! 

On top of the information given in our bio they also use all the other hand outs for health, drugs, etc. to help determine if your family meets what the mother describes. Typically a birth mother will receive 3-4 family options to review.  From this selection she narrows down to two families.  Then from there there could be email communication or a face to face visit with the coordinator present.  This step can take sometime as the mother decides on which family seems the best fit for her dreams and goals for her child.  Yes, her child!  This process provides a beautiful and unique gift to the child.  The birth mother is making the biggest love sacrifice to say I love you so much I have to let you go.  I can provide you a life but I cannot raise you.  Wow, what love and maturity for anyone!  She is not taking the hard way out!  

Here are some examples of what is included in our bio:
-  Our upbringing and childhood.

-  A peek into our marriage and relationship.

-  The current activities we enjoy doing.

-  A description of each of our boys

I would say it took about 20 hours to answer all the questions completely and collect about 150 pictures that described our family.  I think about 10 of them got used.  It was difficult to poor out your heart in the confinements of a scrapbook so to speak.  We took the approach of being honest and transparent.  We pray that something jumps off the page that says we love children, we love each other, and we love you!   

Tips I have if you're interested in the adopting or getting ready to work on a bio:
-  Take lots of pictures!  None staged!
-  Keep your pictures organized.
-  Brainstorm about your childhood and found family memories.  This would be a great time to connect with siblings and family to get ideas going.
-  Have fun!  
  

As always thanks for taking the time to read.  We did receive news that two birth mothers currently have our bios and have not made any decisions.  Good to know we're not still sitting in the drawer!