Monday, January 23, 2012

But Your Girlie Parts Work

It’s true: far as I know, my girlie innards are in tip top shape. In fact, I’m pretty sure they have ESP. As soon as April and I seriously started to talk about growing our family, my stomach began to grow exponentially. I can only assume it’s due to all the baby talk and not in any way related to what I put in my mouth. Because that would be absurd.

Since April and I started sharing with others our plan to adopt, we’ve received lots of questions which we are more than happy to answer. The “when are you due?” question is embarrassing for me, but once I explain we're adopting and my girlie parts just have ESP, it’s less awkward.

One of the questions we field quite often is: “Have either of you considered carrying a child and starting your family that way?”
I’ve covered April’s feelings on physically bearing a child in an earlier post (read it here). I am hopeful one day to have a nugget nestled in my own belly for nine months, but for lots of reasons, we chose to travel down the path of open adoption first.
Adopting a child was a decision we agreed on immediately. I myself am adopted - well, half-way. My mother is my biological mother and my father adopted me when I was two. Pretty sure my baby blue eyes and perfect behavior sealed the deal for dad.
                                  I mean, honestly...
Many of our family and friends have adopted and it’s something April and I felt was right for us.
Given we are a same-sex couple, there are some “extra” things we have to consider when either having or adopting a child. In the state of Virginia, where we live, only one of us can be on the birth certificate. In a lesbian relationship, that person would either be the biological mother of the child (me, if I were to carry), or when adopting, the person applying for the adoption (essentially, going through the process as a single mother).
It’s truly frustrating our relationship isn’t recognized, but it’s a reality (that we’re actively campaigning against), and one we must work within given the laws as they stand today. We determined it best that April to be the adoptive parent given she is employed by a school and therefore has the better insurance. As the adoptive mother, she can claim the child as a dependent and put our little nugget on her insurance. I am self-employed and if I were the adoptive parent, the private insurance would cost us a great deal more and likely not be nearly as comprehensive.
The staff at the Independent Adoption Center (IAC) is familiar with gay and lesbian couples and made sure to let April and I know they respect us as a couple and although April will be listed as the adoptive parent, they will never treat us any more or less than the straight or single couples they work with. The same information was required from both of us and we are both very much included in the process.
It stung a little bit during our home study when paperwork referred to April as the adoptive parent and me as the “other adult in the household,” but I managed to find the silver lining by realizing that during 2am feeding times I could nudge her and say: “Listen, I’m just the other adult in the household…”
As a same-sex couple, having only one parent on the birth certificate presents many challenges. Only April can enroll our child in school. Only April can make medical decisions for our child. If April is out of town and our child gets hurt, I can only come to the hospital during visiting hours because I’m not considered family. The list is endless.
“But can’t you come up with a Power of Attorney or other documentation?” you’re asking.
Why yes, yes we can, but it doesn’t mean those documents can’t be contested because of a little something called the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) that passed. When a man and a woman marry, they are automatically entitled to 1,100 benefits (retirement, financial protection, hospital rights, contractual rights, etc). I’m paraphrasing here, but DOMA essentially states that ANY of those 1,100 rights are deemed null and void when entered in by two people of the same sex.
April and I could spend 50 years together and have wills drawn up – null and void. Powers of Attorney – null and void. All null and void if contested. Would we (or any other couple in our shoes) contest it? Hell yes. But at great emotional and financial cost.
The only way to get around this conundrum, far as we know, is to apply for “second parent adoption” in a state that allows it. For us, the closest state is Maryland. Once April adopts our nugget, we will need to secure a second residence in Maryland for up to six months, make it our primary residence, and then apply to add me to the birth certificate. That means more than an hour commute to and from work, a second set of bills, legal fees and some disruption of our lives – but well worth it. Once approved, Maryland will add my name to the birth certificate and the state of Virginia will have to honor it.
We can only hope Virginia (and most other states in the U.S.) will catch up to Maryland and we won’t have to go through this with our second child, the one I hope to carry (assuming all my girlie parts are still intact).
If I were to carry right now, I would be the biological mother and on the birth certificate. My private insurance doesn’t cover pregnancy, so we’d have to pay outright for prenatal care and the birth (which we would do). However, we’d have to pay private insurance for our child and that doesn’t make sense when April has a job that would cover it. Oh, right. But if I have the child, April can’t be on the birth certificate, which means her insurance won’t cover it. Back to applying for the second parent adoption in Maryland and all that comes with it. Once approved, April’s insurance would cover the child, but the process could be awhile and we may not be in a place financially where we could make that happen.
Confusing, right? You straight people will never take baby making for granted again, will ya? J
So, that’s where we are at right now. Me hoping my girlie parts hang in there until the state of Virginia catches up with the times and April and I are following our other dream of adopting a nugget who will be the first addition to our happy home.
Unless you count our dogs: Rosie the one-eyed-wonder, Snaggle Tooth and John Paul the Poodle Pope. And I’m pretty sure they think they should be counted…
     


Thursday, January 19, 2012

Baby Steps

Back before being a grown up caught up with me, I blogged nearly every day at www.thewishfulwriter.blogspot.com for those of you with nothing better to do than pour through hundreds of posts where I make fun of my partner, April.

Don't feel bad for her - she totally deserved the verbal beatings and for a good while even ended her ridiculousness by saying "this is going to end up on your blog, isn't it?"

Frankly, it's like she's giving you permission to laugh at her.

Work took over my life for a bit and keeping a daily blog felt more like another job instead of something I truly loved doing. So I took a break. I focused on work and instead of dreaming about becoming a famous writer whose blog was miraculously discovered by movie producers, I turned my attention to my second dream.

Becoming a parent.

I have known since I can remember that being a parent is not something I could do or might do, it is something I MUST do.

Sure, coming to terms with the fact I was a lesbian at the age of 28 put a minor, but not insurmountable hurdle in my path. All my girly parts worked (and still do, thank you), but short of closing my eyes and doing the deed with a long haired dude who I could pretend was a chic, I was missing a pretty important piece of the baby puzzle.

Well, two parts of the baby puzzle. No sperm, no partner. No way.

I have the utmost respect for single parents, I just don't want to be one. Mostly because I feel like it's important to have someone to blame when your kid messes up. I'm always thinking ahead. It's a strength of mine.

In August of 2005, I made April the happiest woman on the planet when I agreed to go steady with her. I'm not sure what she was most attracted to - my frequent foul language (not around children, people), the fact I break things nearly as quickly as I buy them, or the fact I lived seven hours away from her at the time....

In 2005, I was living in Knoxville, TN, not far from where she’d grown up in Bristol, TN. She still had and has family in the area and we quickly became fast friends which developed into a strong partnership which only blossomed after she told me whole heartedly that she too wanted to become a mother.

Watching April play Wii with her great-niece, Hailey, taught me everything I needed to know about what kind of parent she'd be. Seeing her dance around with a remote in her hand and not caring (or knowing) that she looked like she was having a seizure was heartwarming. She even let Hailey win. When you're competitive like April, that's tantamount to Ghandi-like behavior, even if your competitor is still in training pants.

Together, April and I spent several years getting to know each other and talking about how we’d like to grow our family. Birthing and adoption were always on the table. Well, birthing was always on my side of the table.

When I asked April if she’d ever be interested in carrying a child, she responded with something like:

“SERIOUSLY?  Can you see ME pregnant? No, huh uh. I mean, I want children, but I don’t want to carry. Besides, child birth is painful for people in my family.”

Me: “Uh huh. Just in your family?”

April: “Well, my sister lost an organ during child birth.”

Me: “Really? Which one?”

April: “Her gall bladder.”

Me: “HER GALL BLADDER?! You don’t even need your gall bladder!”

April, with a raised brow: “Well, it hurt her.”

Suffice it to say, April believes her argument has staying power and stands firm that she would be supportive if I ever get pregnant, but she’s attached to her gall bladder.

Deciding to move forward with our plans to adopt, I began to research agencies that would work with gay and lesbian couples. I found the IndependentAdoption Center (IAC) and requested an information packet from them. Once it arrived, April and I tore into the packet immediately and liked what we read.

We attended an informative session hosted by the agency and we were pretty much hooked. I say pretty much because I had a bit of anxiety. Not surrounding adoption itself, but surrounding open adoption, which is the only form of adoption the IAC does.

Open adoption means that birthmothers and adoptive parents have a chance to get to know each other prior to the arrival of the child. You may have contact with several birthmothers before all parties involved feel connected and as though it’s a good fit. The agency will facilitate meetings and help  work through the level of contact everyone expects as the child ages. Often it starts with photos every six months and the possibility of a meeting once a year.

April, who is a therapist, immediately saw open adoption as a beautiful thing. I struggled internally for a bit, as fear of the unknown camped out in my head.

I had all kinds of questions:

Won’t openness make it difficult for birthmothers to heal and allow us, as adoptive parents to take over?

What if she wants the baby back? Is that even possible?

What if our kid decides s/he hates us and wants to go live with the birthmother? You know we’ll screw something up and make the kid mad.

I had all of these insecurities prior to our weekend intensive session at the IAC offices. The staff was amazing and not surprisingly, familiar with every single one of my fears. Through informative discussions and even appearances from past birthmothers and adoptive parents who had once been in our shoes, we learned just how healthy open adoption is.

The agency gently reminded us that if birthmothers COULD parent, they would. They are coming to the agency because they feel another option might be best for the child they are carrying.

We also learned birthmothers fear adoptive parents will change their minds and decide not to go through with the adoption. This blew me away that adoptive and birth parents would have fears on opposite ends of the spectrum.

The benefits of open adoption are endless:

You have full access to medical records

There is no shame for the birthmother and the child

The birthmother doesn’t have to wonder if she made the right choice, she’ll be able to follow her child’s progress with the adoptive family

Adoptive parents can find peace in knowing they were hand selected by the birthmother to parent their child.

After many discussions and a lot of reading, I jumped on the open adoption band wagon and now firmly believe it’s the best option for growing our family.

On July 30th, 2010, April and I formally signed with the IAC and started our journey toward parenthood.

On January 5th, 2012, we were formally approved and vetted by the IAC and our profile went “live.”

We are now waiting for pregnant birthmothers to either:

View our online profile on the IAC website and contact us

View our personal website and contact us

Receive, directly from the IAC, our dear birthmother letter and contact us

Learn about us via Facebook or through word of mouth and contact us

So far, we’ve not had any contacts from birthmothers, but we are practicing patience (easier for April than for me on many levels) and trusting it will happen and unfold as it’s supposed to.

Every night before I lay my head on my pillow, I look at the usually slumbering April and our three dogs and say the following prayer:

“Dear God,

Please hold and protect all expectant birthmothers and the little nuggets they are carrying in their bellies. If open adoption is something they are considering, please provide comfort and strength and remind them they aren’t alone. To the birthmother and nugget who will eventually become part of our family, we can’t wait to meet them and welcome them into our lives. In your name, I pray.

Amen.

PS – Could you help me lose 20 pounds?”

Update 1/20/12: Thank you to everyone leaving comments! For some reason I can't see or respond to them right now, but i have a message into blogger about it and when it's fixed, I'll respond! Thank you!!

Update: Fixed! I'm answering comments now :)

                                  Heather (L) and April (R)