The “resource list” that we have been given for the adoption process is as long as I am tall (which isn’t exactly tall, much to my detriment when calculating my BMI). Over the last few weeks we’ve both been ploughing through as much as we can before the 29th when we’ve got to hand our Adoption Workbook in with comments about what we have read.
I’ve been reading mostly about attachment and bonding recently, much of which appears to be common sense, but I have found some of it quite enlightening and it will certainly be helpful in future I’m sure. Some of the recommended material is as dry as the Sahara Desert and incredibly difficult to read and take in, mostly because it’s so boring. Fortunately we seem to have multiple books covering the same topics and at least one of them is better written than the rest, hopefully we’ll be able to glean the required information out of them for when we inevitably get grilled about what we’ve learned.
We have both had our medicals which the adoption agency seems to require as part of Stage 1. Unfortunately for me my doctor’s scales weighed me in 4 pounds heavier than my ones at home edging my BMI up to 30 and putting me in the “obese” category. I’m not happy about that because the last time I was weighed at the surgery their scales weighed me 2 or 3 pounds lighter than mine. My scales haven’t changed, theirs were two different ones, and clearly aren’t calibrated properly (and were analogue so open to a bit of interpretation).
Other than that both our medicals went fine, nothing interesting to report. They do a “Cardiovascular Risk Assessment” calculation based on your age, weight, height, smoking status and a few other criteria, my doctor was very pleased with my 0.7% chance of having a heart attack or stroke in the next 10 years. Still seems high to me, but there you go. My partner was very smug about his 0.4% chance though, apparently his doctor told him it’s the lowest he’d ever seen. (Although I don’t think they usually do it for people our age).
At least that bit is all over with, tomorrow we have an ‘Introduction to Adoption’ day which we’ve been told can be quite emotional and challenging. To me this means they’re going to be showing the horrors of what some of the children in care have been through. I think I might take some tissues with me.
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