# New to all this....buddies please...



## twinkle458

Hi Ladies

My DH and I are almost ready to send off our initial expression of interest form. We have been ttc no 2 for over two years and had a mc last year (my 2nd mc). After much soul searching, I realised its not the pregnancy I yearn for but the child and we had already talked about adoption prior to having my DS who is three. 

A couple of questions....

DH is a smoker. Only light & never EVER in the house or car or around our son. Will this be a big issue? Has anyone here been approved for children under 5 as a smoker? 

I am/we are utterly terrified about what is to come. Any help or support would be very much appreciated xxxx


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## Loski83

Hello and welcome :flower:
Think you can only get over five if either of you smoke so he best off trying to stop, however things could change as they often do with adoption. Good luck for the future xx


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## twinkle458

Hi loski

Thank you for replying. Where are you in this journey? xx


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## twinklycat

Good luck!!! I'll be following your journey with interest, we are trying to clear our debt so we can adopt :) xxx


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## twinkle458

twinklycat said:


> Good luck!!! I'll be following your journey with interest, we are trying to clear our debt so we can adopt :) xxx

Hi There

Well...posted the LA form off this week and got a letter back 2 days later saying someone will be in touch in the near future to arrange an initial interview....yikes...

I also phoned a VA last week and requested an info pack - that arrived and they phoned 2 days later asking if we would like to proceed!!

I think DH and i are going to stick with the LA for now unless they turn out to be feckless, and will keep looking at the VAs until we actually commit.

Just want a SW to phone with an appointment now....getting impatient!!!

Twinkly - we are also paying off debt by borrowing from my parents. Although we are still in debt, it will be less official than the debt we have now (if that makes sense??!)

I was reading another forum earlier - the lady on there was doing the same thing and had been advised by her SW that clearing debt was a good plan, but it does seem to very from one LA to another. 
Are you starting out on this path too?

Lots of love xx:hugs:


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## twinkle458

Loski83 said:


> Hello and welcome :flower:
> Think you can only get over five if either of you smoke so he best off trying to stop, however things could change as they often do with adoption. Good luck for the future xx

CONGRATULATIONS!!! :happydance::happydance::happydance:


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## twinklycat

Hi Twinkle! 

We've been wanting to adopt for a while now, but we've not been in the best position - we bought a wreck of a house that took us far longer to do up and cost us loads more money than we had envisaged! (hence the debt :/), we've very nearly finished now, just painting the hallway to go! :happydance:

The other thing stopping us is that my hubby stays away for work in the week, and ideally he'd like to be living at home so he doesn't miss out on anything with the kiddies. His job will always involve some element of travel though, but hopefully not 5 days a week.

We had a meeting a while back with a fostering agency, as we thought that we might do that for a few years until we adopted, but i'm getting quite impatient to have kids of our own now... 

We'd ideally like to adopt a sibling pair under 5. Have you thought about the age you'd like? Very excited that things are moving forward with you :hugs:


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## Loski83

Hi twinkle458 we are just waiting to receive our letter confirming that we are approved once we get that our sw has 3 profiles to show us. We got approved for 0-2 years which is what we where hoping for. Have you heard from a sw yet?
Twinklycat we have loans but as long as you can afford to pay your bills I don't think they are too worried. Our finances weren't even mentioned at panel they only asked two questions and it took about 5 minutes so just speak to your agency and see what there views are. Xx


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## twinklycat

Aww thanks Loki that's really good to know. Congrats on approval!!! Good luck with the profiles, hope you find your perfect match :) can i ask how long it took you to get approved? xxx


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## Loski83

We went on prep grou oct and started home study nov so I would say just under 8 months, felt like longer but it was so worth it. Now we back to waiting again but you sort of get used to all the waiting. xx


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## twinkle458

twinklycat said:


> Hi Twinkle!
> 
> We've been wanting to adopt for a while now, but we've not been in the best position - we bought a wreck of a house that took us far longer to do up and cost us loads more money than we had envisaged! (hence the debt :/), we've very nearly finished now, just painting the hallway to go! :happydance:
> 
> The other thing stopping us is that my hubby stays away for work in the week, and ideally he'd like to be living at home so he doesn't miss out on anything with the kiddies. His job will always involve some element of travel though, but hopefully not 5 days a week.
> 
> We had a meeting a while back with a fostering agency, as we thought that we might do that for a few years until we adopted, but i'm getting quite impatient to have kids of our own now...
> 
> We'd ideally like to adopt a sibling pair under 5. Have you thought about the age you'd like? Very excited that things are moving forward with you :hugs:

We have a DS who is 3 years old. If we managed to get approved, he would probably be approaching 4. So looking at 0-2 I think. We'd like a younger child but as long as DS is the oldest we aren't overly concerned by age. 
Not been appointed a SW yet... I'm wondering how long to leave it before I ring up and ask when they will be proceeding....it's sooooooo difficult to wait! 

We have just borrowed from my parents to clear our debt but like Loski says I think it just depends on the agency. 

Any news Loski? You must be beside yourselves with excitement!! 

Lots of love xx


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## Loski83

With our agency the ac has too be 2 years younger than bc. So 0-2 would be ideal. No news yet x


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## twinkle458

Hi Ladies 

Just a quick update.... Following a five week wait since we sent our expression of interest forms in, two phone calls and lots of waiting...... Finally got our initial visit from the social worker on Tuesday... GULP!... 

Loski - i just caught up on your journey. Lovely to hear its all going well. So niceto see you're getting closer to bringing your little one home. Xx


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## Loski83

Well done twinkle458 sounds like we are both busy on Tuesday, good luck for initial visit and just be yourself xx


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## twinkle458

Loski83 said:


> Well done twinkle458 sounds like we are both busy on Tuesday, good luck for initial visit and just be yourself xx

Thank you.. 
Are you nervous? Xx


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## Loski83

Yes really nervous about meeting foster carers on Tuesday but excited as well cause we will find out more about our little girl x


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## twinkle458

Oh good lord..... Tomorrow is the beginning.....! Eeeeeek! Xx


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## twinkle458

Loski83 said:


> Yes really nervous about meeting foster carers on Tuesday but excited as well cause we will find out more about our little girl x

How did it go? Xx


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## Loski83

Hi it went great, how was yours?


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