I've thought about this for weeks now and really feel like I need to provide my experience.
Mr. Godwin's office was recommended to my husband and I by two different families. So, we were hopeful and excited to learn more and begin the process of becoming adoptive parents. I've read a lot of adoption books and articles, joined the social groups online, etc., but the information overload was real and we wanted to meet in person and talk to a real people. So, we drove an hour and a half to Mr. Godwin's office opting for a face to face rather than virtual meeting.
The attorney we met with was fantastic. She was very personable, excited to provide information and seemed genuinely glad to be able to help and share her story, as well as learn ours. As an adoptive parent herself, she was able to clarify some things and really gave us some great insight into the process. My husband and I were so happy to meet her and felt like we could be moving in the right direction.
However, that feeling vanished when we met with Marion, the woman who handles the matching of adoptive and biological parents. When Marion walked in the room all the energy and comfort went out of the meeting. It almost seemed as if she took one look at us and decided we were not worthy of her time or having a child.
She was very condescending telling us "not to cheap out on a home study because she doesn't have time to train people to do their jobs." She then begrudgingly provided us with a few names of home study providers after I mentioned the attorney said that Marion would have those names and phone numbers. She was also rude when I asked about the family books that they kept to provide as examples for adoptive parents (also mentioned by the attorney). She sighed and said "yeah we have some over there," pointed and huffed as she got up and threw the books on the table for us.
At the end of the meeting, my husband and I both felt like Marion walked in to that room, took one look at us and decided that we weren't worthy of her time or a child.
Sure, she may have been having a bad day, we all do, but she is the person who directly presents a birth mother with adoption candidates. And after our experience with her, it is really difficult to put our trust and faith in the process and feel like we're being fairly represented when we feel like she's already judged us and can't be bothered. read more