hits different - Taylor Swift and Travis kelce

agency

-Taylors Pov-

"Mr. Kelce and Miss Swift?" a lady comes out of her office to get us, and we follow her into her office. "I'm case worker Ginny Williams," she says and shakes our hands before we introduce ourselves as well. "please take a seat" she gestures to the sofa in her office.

It's decorated with pictures of kids, and drawings they have made us. This adoption agency came highly recommended, so we decided to check them out and have a conversation to see I they are a good fit for us. When you're thinking about adoption it's important to have a good connection with the case worked assigned to you so you can put the best foot forward for the kids in question.

"May I call you Travis and Taylor?" she asks, and we say yes, preferring the more personal approach. "so let me tell you a little about our agency. We work closely with CPS here in Kansas City to help place kids with severed parental rights or biological parents who have passed away. These kids sometimes stay in the foster system until they age out, but we try to place them in a forever family willing to adopt them because we have learned that's what's best for most kids. It gives them somewhere to call home, somewhere to have parents who invite them home for the holidays even when they are adults. My job is to match parents with adoptees to the best of my ability for the best match possible. For a match to work, it needs to be right for both the adoptive parents and for the child, especially if it's an older child that will have more of an opinion themselves as well."

She goes on to explain the process of adopting through them since they primarily work through kids in the foster care system or pregnant women wanting to place their children up for adoption before they are born. It's two different approaches and have different processes. From foster care, they need to be in our home for a few months under "foster to adopt" before we can officially adopt them because they want to make sure the match is right, and they're not sent back to the foster care system later on. The whole thing has an intricate process, but I think it's worth it in the end if it gives a child a forever home.

"Then it's about the adoptive parents for a bit, what they think they can handle and what specifically they are looking for. A lot of kids in care come with issues on their own, many with trauma of different degrees that sometimes will need intervention or cause behavior problems with the child. Then there is the question about which age you're willing to take and if you're willing to take a child, or more, that are considered hard to place. These are all things you need to think about when making a decision" she goes on.

"what if we are willing to take a child that's hard to place? How much information do we get beforehand?" I ask because that's relevant to me. we have two other kids, after all, I need to make sure they are safe.

"it depends on the case and what makes the child hard to place. Like if it's just because it's siblings that's obviously information that's easily understandable. But otherwise, we are bound by confidentiality until the placement is confirmed and the test period is confirmed. But if there are serious medical conditions that make them hard to place you will get that information because it is about what you are able to handle. So it all depends on the case actually" she says, and I get that. I get that they need to keep the kids' privacy, of course, it just makes me a little nervous not really knowing.

We finish up with her and are left with plenty of information and options to discuss. It's important to not make a rash decision, it's going to affect the rest of our lives after all. It's a big deal taking someone new into your family like this, and I don't want to fuck it up. I want to find the right fit for us if we even decide that this is something we want to do.

Afterward, we pass by a Starbucks drive-through for some coffee before sitting in the car in the parking lot. "what do you think about what she said?" Travis asks and I take a moment to think before answering.

"I think that maybe a hard-to-place child could be an option. But I don't think we have time for a medically complex child with our work. So I'm leaning more towards siblings maybe?" siblings are a category of hard-to-place children all on their own because most adoptive parents only want one child, but agencies don't want to spit siblings unless they have to. And the older the kids are the harder it is to place them too. babies are the easiest because it seems like everyone wants a baby.

"I could be open to siblings. But no more than two, I think that's hard enough. And we would need to get a bigger car anyway so what is one more. How do you feel about age? Because I wouldn't mind someone a little older, more independent. But not a teenager either. Somewhere in the middle there maybe?" Travis says and I agree with that. we already have two toddlers; I don't think we can handle more at that age. Not that adoptive children don't come with their own set of issues, but I don't want age to be one of them.

With older children, it's easier to communicate with them and get them to tell us what's going on after we gain their trust. But with younger less verbal children that's harder. For us, I think it's good with someone who can talk and communicate with us, at least when they get more comfortable living with us.

"so siblings?" I ask and he nods "I think that would be good. I think we are missing more than one child; we have space for more. It's going to be hard but that doesn't mean we shouldn't do it."

"you have a big heart, Travis. Yet another reason I love you" I say and lean over the console to kiss him. Every time I kiss him the same sparks as the beginning are there. It never goes out of style, it's a constant tingle in my belly that this man is mine and I'm madly in love with him.

"I think this will be good for our little family, expanding it" he says and I totally agree, I think it's the right choice for us as well. Only time will tell how it's going to work out tho, it might not go the way we think it will. It's not going to be easy but I think it will be worth it in the end.