27th June 2007

Ok I have regrouped after my usual 24 hours of despair and glass is now half full again. Have spend the day emailing everyone I could think of to try and get some solution. Ok so if I'm honest I was hoping someone would say "No don't worry we were just checking and here's your referral!" - NOT going to happen!

Anyway, the Agency were actually really positive, the email they sent was a general email to everyone and the fact we are approved for up to 3 years is actually a benefit for us. I emailed our social services to see what flexibility we had in age and if any change would require a top up homestudy, back to panel and back to the notaries and DfES, something I don't really fancy. As it turns out under some Act in Dec 2005 in the best interests of th child, we are fine to adopt up to 4years old without requiring anything extra from Social Services or the DfES. I don't quite understand how it works but I'm not arguing ;o) As for Russia's flexibility in allowing us to adopt a child above our age range without amending documentation is quite another matter...

The agency thought the letter I knocked together was excellent (was that a general reply?) and sent best wishes for a quick referral. So in the last 24 hours what has been achieved? I've had the proverbial rug pulled out from under me, felt terrible, emailed the Agency somthing they already have, harrassed more people over email than is healthy, spent a fortune on mobile calls to hubby on some ship in the Middle East and now I'm back in exactly the same situation as I was before.

And that, my friends, would be the rollercoaster joy of adoption... Some day I'll look back and smile, today's it's more of a forced grimace but I'm getting there.