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As you anticipate the next steps of your adoption journey, you may be thinking about the all-important home study. The adoption home study is an important part of the process, and required in most states including Massachusetts.
The home study involves multiple visits with a licensed adoption social worker. Some of these visits include sit-down interviews with each member of the family. Even if you know you are a responsible person who is ready to raise a child, you may be nervous at the thought of these interviews. This is understandable. Interviews give people feelings similar to that of public speaking. You may be afraid of what your adoption social worker might think of your family or home. You may be scared that your ability to parent will be questioned, or nervous at the thought that your adoption rests in their hands. You also may still be grieving for the biological child you cannot have, and you may feel upset that you have to go through this process to have a family. We, at Adoptions With Love, understand these complicated feelings.
As a hopeful parent, it is important to remember that the home study is not designed to judge you or your parenting capabilities. You do not need to be perfect, and neither does your home. The home study is there to allow us to get to know you, and ensure your home is a safe, stable, and loving place to raise a child. It also gives you a chance to get to know our adoption agency, and to ask us questions, too!
To help calm your nerves, there are ways you can prepare for the home study interviews. Below, Adoptions With Love has provided some of the most common questions asked during the home study process. Print this list and use it as your home study interview “study guide.”
As you consider your answers to these questions, remember that it is more important – above anything else – to be yourself! Your adoption agency wants to get to know you—the real you. Feel free to let your personality shine. Remember that the goal here is to show that you are a genuinely good person, with good intentions of raising a happy and healthy child. There is no need to be awkward, or pretend to be someone else. Be yourself and talk about the parent you wish to be.
Home Study Interview Question Examples
- What are some of your hobbies/personal interests?
- What do you do for a living?
- Is your job stable?
- Do you enjoy what you do?
- Are you financially stable ?
- Are you physically healthy?
- Are there any chronic illnesses that run in your family?
- Why are you pursuing adoption?
- (If in a relationship) Please share how you two met.
- (If in a relationship) How is your relationship?
- (If in a relationship) What do you enjoy doing as a couple?
- What was your childhood like?
- How would you describe your relationship with your parents?
- Are you close with your family today?
- What are your hopes for your future child?
- What are your plans for education?
- Are you familiar with the unique challenges that sometimes come with children who are adopted?
- What type of parenting approach do you think you will take?
- What values are important to you that you want to impart on your child?
- What makes your neighborhood a good place to raise a child?
- What are your goals for the future?
Preparing Your Answers
While you should consider your answers ahead of time, you do not want to come across as someone who has just memorized a script. Come up with basic talking points, but do not get hung up on the wording. It will only make you feel flustered. If it helps, consider yourself being interviewed by your favorite talk show host. Whether you adore Ellen, or have always imagined yourself dishing the dirt with Andy Cohen, you may feel more comfortable preparing for this interview with a fascinating celebrity who wants to know all about you. If you are in a relationship, it will help to prepare for these questions together, and to align your answers with one another’s.
Of course, if you need any help preparing for your home study interview, you can always turn to your trusted adoption agency. Adoptions With Love has been helping adoptive parents find their forever babies since 1986. We are a private, domestic, non-profit agency with a passion for helping Massachusetts families grow through adoption. If there are any questions you have regarding the home study process – or the adoption process in general – we can help. Feel free to contact us any time of day, any day of the week. Call us toll free at 617-964-4357, or contact us online.