Esther ***PLACED***

Description

Meet Esther! She is 8 years old and was adopted internationally last year by a family with no other children. Esther finished the 2^nd grade at her local charter school last month where she has grown academically by leaps and bounds! Esther really enjoys her new life in America, but she holds a lot of resentment towards her new mom for “taking her away” from her birth mom. Her new parents did not know that Esther’s birth mother was alive or having regular visits with Esther until they arrived in country to pick her up.  The relationship Esther has with her adoptive mom is very strained and difficult for both ladies. Esther has expressed several times she wants a different family. Her parents don’t believe she will get over the resentment she has for them for being the ones who took her from her birth family (despite her having been placed by her birth family in the orphanage when she was a baby). For this reason, her parents are looking for a new family for her that has experience parenting a child who comes from an orphanage or from a trauma background. They are open to all types of families, if the family understands international adoptions and has the patience to help Esther adapt to her new culture and process the grief she’s experiencing over her losses. We ask that Esther be the youngest in her new family by at least 2 years. They think a two-parent family would be best, but they are open to considering an experienced single mom.

Esther is a jovial, energetic, and social little girl. She is very petite in stature, but she loves to play outside. She really enjoys soccer, though she hasn’t been on a team before. She loves arts and crafts, singing, dancing, and riding her scooter. She has grown a lot in her ability to read this past year, and she enjoys doing math. Esther is very helpful and likes to aid the adults around her with tasks. If you ask Esther what she wants to be when she grows up, she says, “a barrister (lawyer), a mom, and a soccer player.” She is good with family pets.

Esther likes to eat stews with rice, spaghetti, or any type of pasta dish. She has lots of stuffed animals that she likes to have in her bed with her. Esther is very orderly and neat. She likes to keep her possessions clean and takes good care of them. She keeps a very tidy room as well. Esther is able to take care of all of her own hygiene needs. She bathes herself, brushes her teeth, and picks out her own clothes.

This is a private adoption, so a state or foster home study might not work. A private domestic homestudy is generally required. You will need to have a current, or easily-updated homestudy for this adoption. If your homestudy is current or you’re within 3 weeks of it being completed, feel free to inquire further. Our goal is to find a new, successful adoptive family for this child. We do not facilitate long-term respite care, nor do we allow for “trial periods” or visits between you and the child before the match is made and the child changes homes. By inquiring further, you are implying you have a desire to adopt, and not to offer other creative placement solutions.

Unless otherwise noted, we require that all of the children in our program be the youngest in their new family by at least two years. We ask that you honor this requirement and not ask us to bend the rules. These children need the chance to be the “baby” of the family and to receive much needed attention so they can attach and have a healthy start in their new home. When a sibling is close in age or younger than them, this will usually foster jealousy and competition which won’t lead to a successful placement. Thank you for understanding. If you are married, we also ask that you have been married for a minimum of 2.5 years before applying to adopt through our program.

Due to state laws, we are not able to place this child in CT, MA, NY, or DE. If you live in OR, you may need to travel to the child’s state to finalize this adoption. If you live in WI, please let us know, as the adoption process may be longer and a bit more expensive than what is listed in our paperwork. NJ residents will need to check with their homestudy agency or an adoption attorney to see if their homestudy will work for this type of adoption. Some states are harder than others to get permission for the placement, and attorney fees are billed accordingly. If you live in AL, we will need a pre-placement meeting between the child’s parents and a social worker after you are matched to a child. This will be an additional cost to you.

If you have never had a home study before, we cannot help you adopt this child. However, we would love to share with you the process of starting a home study so you could be approved for a child in the near future. The easiest method is to Google “home study” and the name of your city. You can then call the agencies on that list and compare prices and timelines for getting a completed domestic homestudy. Once you’re within three weeks of having a completed homestudy, you can begin pursuing a match to one of our waiting children.

If you are a U.S. citizen living overseas, we may be able to work with you depending on a few details. Please let us know your situation.

Adoption is a legal process so there will be costs associated. This adoption may qualify for the IRS Adoption Tax Credit.

Contact us at secondchanceinfo@wiaa.org.

*To protect the privacy of our waiting children and their families, Second Chance does not share real names for our waiting children on the Internet. It is our policy to only share a snippet of a waiting child’s details as well as the type of adoptive family we are looking for. If you fit the POSTED REQUIREMENTS, are home study ready (or can be soon!), and interested in adding this child to your family, please write to us for an honest, in-depth profile on the child including medical, educational, and behavioral information and learn the full story of why this child needs a secondary adoption. Our program social worker and program director have worked together with the child’s family to carefully set the requirements for the new family. These requirements are not negotiable, so please honor the needs of this child by not asking us to bend them for you.