Second opinion interview

Miranda and the second opinion social worker came over and did the second opinion interview. This other social worker was actually one of the two who did our initial interview back in January last year, but we hadn’t seen her since then. She was funny, warm, positive, caring and very clear. She asked us some questions starting with Glen’s relationship with his father, which we had to explain for the umpteenth time, and then asked about the number and gender of children we are hoping for. She talked about the uncertainties that surround many of the children in the care system. We also discussed prejudices, the process in general, and contact. They were the kinds of questions that she expects panel may ask us. Both she and Miranda seem quite positive about us being approved, but she said that if we do get approved then we should get ready for a long wait given that in social workers’ minds gay couples are near the bottom of the pecking order after heterosexual couples and single women.

The interview lasted just over an hour and a quarter and after they had gone we felt completely exhausted and unsure about how to feel about the end of the assessment process. It feels like it’s suddenly all very real and for the first time we’re allowing ourselves to believe that we may actually get approved. I think we’ve been refusing to get our hopes up expecting a hurdle that we wouldn’t be able to overcome. And now the assessment process is over and all that’s left is to see whether panel agree with the local authority assessment.

It’s a month until we go to panel and the work is done, so all we can do is wait. In the meantime we’re going on holiday for two weeks, so I don’t think there’ll be any updates in that time. We’re completely exhausted and really looking forward to going away. When we were planning it we kept thinking this may be our last major holiday before we adopt, but given the comment we heard today about getting ready to wait a long time, it may not be so. In any case we’re going to switch off from the whole process and enjoy our time off together.