One of my husband’s colleagues with whom he shared the fact that we are going through the adoption process, told him that there’s another work colleague doing the same. So, they had a conversation and shared experiences and they are using a local catholic charity. Apparently, they have been going through the approval process for 1,5 years and they have now been told that their case will go to the board for approval in September. We wish them all the best.

As part of the initial conversations with our local social services team, questions were asked about the age range for our future adoptive child. This is such a difficult and emotional question.

I suppose that it won't be the last form to be completed as there will be many to come.

The most recent forms which we received and which need to be completed are a health questionnaire which will allow the council to assess our health and contact our GP but also a consent form so that they can do some checks on us to know whether we are trustworthy people.

Although we are still very early days, we told our close friends and family that we initiated the adoption process. In this way, the closest know all at the same time which will also support us through the process. As there also some we read the blog, no doubt, they will be aware as well.

We got some fantastic reactions and others which were very bizarre but as usual, that's to be expected.

The first set of adoption papers have been completed online and the next day, we received already a phone call from our local council.

I was not sure which timing to expect but it was definitely much quicker as we anticipated. The council asked a lot of extra questions to identify whether we were clear about the process, and to clarify some of our feedback so that things could be taken forward if we still wanted too.

We did it and it feels so good as it gives a very positive feeling.

This is an important milestone for us - we just completed the adoption enquiry forms provided by our local council team.

So, this is the start of a new journey but at last, we took control of the situation again instead of living in a world of uncertainty which in itself created a lot of stress for us. We are ever so excited about it.

As a member of Infertility Network UK, you have access to the helplines which are organised on a subject basis and which are manned by members who share their experience about a specific element as part of their fertility or getting pregnant journey. Of course, some have been succesful and others not but it helps to get a better understanding.

I decided to give the helpline a call about adoption as we consider adoption as a possible option. The benefit from talking to somebody who experienced it herself is immense. It was a really good and hopeful conversation.