Adoption, Part 6

I originally had planned a break from all these adoption posts for variety's sake, but a couple of things have happened that need to be recorded and shared. Well, the end result is nothing has happened, but there is news to report. More government bureaucracy. Yay.

We did get in right away to see Dr. Kennedy. We spent one session discussing the particular issue we were told must be discussed, and quickly saw that it is not something that affects the stability of our relationship or our ability to parent. He agreed to write another letter saying so right away. He hand wrote it, sealed it in an envelope with his signature across the back, and had me pick it up and put it in the mail. It was in the mail on a Thursday or Friday. (Can't remember exactly.) It was local mail, and Monday was a holiday, so I figured it would be there Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest. Before we had our session, I emailed DFCS asking exactly what we needed. No reply. Remember this. It is very important.

I e-mailed DFCS and anxiously waited to hear if it had been received and if it was good enough. And I waited. And I waited. I gave in on Thursday and e-mailed asking if it had been received. The next day we received an e-mail telling us it had to be typed and sent directly from the office. I was livid!!! The previous letter had also been handwritten, and not a word was said. And even worse than that, I am really not sure when she planned on letting us know as the ONLY reason I got that email was I emailed her first. Absolutely unprofessional. And remember me asking exactly what we needed? Yeah, would have been nice to know...but wait, there's more government stupidity!

We paid $40 to have the letter typed, and it was promptly put in the mail. Once again, a few days later I emailed asking if it had been received. Once again, I got one sentence saying yes it had. And that was it. For about two weeks. At this point, we were stuck. The next step is DFCS calling our home study writer and giving her the go ahead to make our final interview appointment. I have tried contacting her multiple times but she can't/won't do anything until she is contacted by them. And they are admittedly busy and obviously not in a hurry to get our stuff done in any way, shape, or form. As busy as they are, they could at least take a couple minutes out of the day on occasion for communication's sake. But NOOO. That is definitely too efficient for a government agency.

Back to story itself. About two weeks passed. Then, this Monday we received an email actually initiated by DFCS. Now, this should have been thrilling, but nope. We were told that NOW they need a letter explicitly stating no further counseling is required at this time. Pretty much word-for-word. Typed and faxed from the office. The previous letter stated that the issue of interest was not a threat to our family but that we were continuing to go to counseling to improve our relationship. we all thought this would be seen as a positive, especially when it comes to parenting children who usually need therapy. we are obviously open to it and willing to do what it takes to make things work. but I guess that's not a good thing. Remember that little email I sent asking them exactly what was needed? Two letters, $80 for typing, and one month later...

The letter was faxed today, so now we wait. Again. It looks like no good deed truly does go unpunished. Ugh.