The Most Important Thing I Ever Designed

The following blog was written by Brent Almond of the Designer
Daddy blog.

I was speaking at an adoption expo recently as a panelist on the
topic “Are You Ready To Adopt?” In sharing our story, I
referenced our family album a few times, as it was such a big part
of our home study process. And it struck me that a) our family
album was the ultimate “Designer Daddy” project, and b) I
hadn’t yet featured it on the blog.

Time to remedy that! For those of you not familiar with the
adoption process, it varies if you’re adopting domestically or
internationally, and if you’re going through an adoption agency
or the foster care system. But in all cases, potential parents must
submit to a home study, which is way more than a walkthrough to
make sure electrical outlets are covered. Financial, employment,
and residential histories, a physical exam, fingerprinting and
background checks, letters of referral, home inspections from the
fire department and several other procedures and stacks of
paperwork are all part of a home study.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard (and thought),
“Good grief! If biological parents had to go through this, it
would completely remedy overpopulation!” While all that sounds
pretty overwhelming, the most stressful and time-consuming
component of our home study was creating our family album. It’s
also The Most Important Thing I’ve Ever Designed.  To
read more, click here.