Thursday, October 25, 2007

Accidental Adoption

Not surprisingly, we've witnessed some bewildered people and heard some jaw-dropping things as we've shared our decision (Really, we had to do it...The neighbor's dog was very clear when he said we had to...) to adopt again and add to our six-pack.

One that made me chuckle to myself was, "Did you mean for this to happen?" I shared it with my husband (ever the quick-witted) who retorted, "No, our adoption birth control didn't work and now we're stuck."

Just a warning for those of you not practicing safe adoption.

Read on to find out just how it happens...

Have you ever noticed that you hear all the time about "accidental" pregnancies, but never about couples who experience "accidental" adoptions?

Can you imagine:

Honey, sit down. I have some news for you.

What is it?

Well, I don't know how to say this, so I'll just come out with it. I went out to the mailbox today and ... well, we got an I-171H.

A what?!? An I-171H? As in, we're going to have a(nother) baby?!?

It looks that way.

But how? We've been so careful! I put away all the blank I-600A forms. Didn't you hide our homestudy update?

Of course I did. But don't forget, there was that one night...

What night? (pauses) Ohhh, that night. But it was only once. We were just messing around. I didn't print clearly. I didn't even use ink! (pauses again) But it was kind of fun.

(giggles)

It was, wasn't it? I'll never forget how cute you looked getting your fingerprints.

So now we've got our I-171H, eh? But that doesn't always mean you'll adopt, does it? I mean, shouldn't you see the agency or something, make sure everything's okay?

I already did.

And?

I'm five documents along.

Five documents! And they're all notarized, certified and
authenticated okay?

Just great. There was one small scare when the agency couldn't see the Notary's middle initial, but it showed up just fine under the magnifying glass.

Thank God. And you, honey? Are you feeling okay?

I'm feeling fine. As long as I know you're happy about this.

Happy? I'm thrilled! It's always a shock at first when something like this happens, but of course I'm happy.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

11 comments:

Mama of 5 said...

I can only imagine the comments you guys get. We are only adding a 4th child and people tell us we are "crazy" all the time. Thank God good people like you want big families!
Becky

Therese said...

lol. That was funny. Congratulations. When is the due date?

THE SCHAEFERS said...

What a great post! I needed a good laugh this evening and I am still rolling!

KELLI BELLY said...

I love it :o)

Michelle said...

Jane, thanks for the giggle this morning. :)

Life in Fitzville said...

This had me rolling! But the really funny thing is, that we tell people that Pipo was our one unplanned "pregnancy". We did intend to adopt... someday... but had not considered an older child, or one from Haiti, or one with serious medical issues. It honestly 'just happened'.

As I have always said though... there is no such thing as an "unplanned" pregnancy. We just have to remember that we are not the ones doing the planning. ;)

Anonymous said...

Oh, Jane, this was sooooo funny! I even called my husband to the computer to read it, and we both had a good laugh all over again.

I'm really enjoying your blog, what a treat!

Warmly,
Eileen

Anonymous said...

thanks Jane- lots of laughter over here

Jane (a.k.a. patjrsmom) said...

I thought this was a funny one, too. Definitely worth sharing.

Therese, no "due date" as of yet, but we're guessing by summer of 2008 perhaps. It will depend somewhat on the paperwork and the child(ren) referred to us.

To the Schaefers, Thanks for visiting our blog. I'm glad you enjoyed it!

And Denise, as always, you've hit the nail on the head! We aren't the planners but we know the One who is!

Thanks for reading,
Jane

Anonymous said...

Very funny post, Jane! It's so true! As you know Brett and I only have 4 kids. Yet just last week I was defending to some folks on Brett's side of the family why we adopted "SO MANY." People just don't understand. We live in a world where women are anxious to get rid of their maternity clothes after baby #2 arrives.

I just love your humor.

Julie

Jane (a.k.a. patjrsmom) said...

Hi Julie!

Hope you are all settled in well at your new house. Do you have any plans to venture out West anytime soon?

Hope to see you!

Jane