I am woman, hear me roar

There is more than one way to skin a cat.

After much consideration and leaning on friends, I decided to reach out to the Juvenile Officer (JO) yesterday via email. I copied the social worker and opened with an “I apologize if I’m out of line to ask.” My reasoning was that if I was of the male gender no one would question me doing so.

The JO answered my questions and an insightful thread followed during business hours.

So here’s the scoop…

The judge will hear bio dad’s consent June 19th.

The JO is going to follow up to make sure bio mom and her lawyer get a meeting set.

The goodbye (closing) visit could still by on May 31 even though this is before the judge hears the consents. Since the consents are voluntary this is allowed as long as the bio parents are okay with it.

Out of the blue yesterday afternoon I received a call from the social worker’s supervisor clarifying dates for our travel for my sister’s graduation. You might be wondering how often that happens. Yesterday was the first time ever. I double-checked what I learned from the JO with her and got the same answers.

So while the adoption hearing is looking more and more likely to occur in August (our lawyer is advocating for an earlier date exception), knowing that we will likely be convening the goodbye visit in May as planned is huge as this will allow big brother and little sister to be aware of their adoption and to begin informally (at school, church, etc.) use their forever last name.

As a friend says (paraphrased)…

It is a long wait, but what are a few more months when you are talking a lifetime?

Published 5/15/2015