Sunshine Pt. 2

It's been several months since I first learned about the kid who stole my heart.  Since that day, I've had the pleasure of meeting them a few times at TWHA events and learning more about them.  Our interactions have been brief, but pleasant.  After reviewing several hundred profiles of other kids, I finally made my intent known to my agency, which officially started us on the path of adoption.  My agency submitted my home study to the child's case worker for review.  I passed the case worker's review and was told that there would be a RAS meeting scheduled without me for all interested parties, including my adoption coordinator, DFPS, TWHA, the guardian ad litem, etc.  My adoption coordinator would represent me and persuade the group to pick me.  If there were multiple families interested in this child, then there would be other adoption agencies there to represent those families too, but that wasn't the case.  After a couple of hours, I received a call to let me know that the group chose me to be the mother.  Next, they will give me access to a redacted case file so I can see the child's history and make an informed decision about whether I want to move forward based on that history. From there, I will officially be linked to the kid and we can start visitations outside of group events. I've been waiting on the file for a couple of weeks now. I thought I would receive it a couple of days after the RAS, but it appears that everything about this process moves at turtle speed. When I finally receive the case file, I will review it so I have a fuller picture of the past experiences, but I don't believe there will be any major issues that will stop me from pursuing the adoption.

In the meantime, I've seen my kid at 2 separate events since the RAS and had positive interactions. I learn a little more about them each time, and I feel confident about our future together.