Nostalgic long desk in front of the blackboard: Sitting in the front to avoid getting sleepy | Special Adoption | Basic Training Before Registration (1)
It had been about half a year since I put an end to fertility treatment and decided to have a child through special adoption. I had been hearing various things from both private organizations and the government, and while juggling each, I had been steadily moving forward.
I had to submit documents for screening to both the private clinic that facilitates special adoptions and the Child Guidance Center (CGC), and then there were home visits by the CGC, basic training, and pre-registration training. It was a situation where I had to finish various things as quickly as possible, one after another.
Although I wished to have a child through the private clinic, my husband had less than a year left before the age limit for adoptive parents set by that clinic, so I also felt a sense of urgency that we had to do something before he turned 46.
Please also read about the clinic story where we bet on the last minute of the age limit, if you would like.
The acquisition of the foster parent registration certificate, which is finally given after completing pre-registration training and facility practical training, is one of the screening conditions set by the private clinic along with the submission of document screening. Without it, even the document screening would not proceed at the private clinic where we hoped to have a child.
A foster parent registration certificate is a special certificate issued by each local government, recognizing a family as one to whom a child can be safely entrusted after going through interviews, home visits, and training conducted by the Child Guidance Center.
To receive that certificate, there are home visit investigations by the CGC, lectures, facility tours, and then pre-registration training and facility practical training. Our next mission after finishing the home visit investigation was the pre-registration basic training.
This is the story about the previous home visit.
Please read this as well ↓
The pre-registration basic training consists of lectures in the morning and visits to an infant home and a children's care facility in the afternoon.
The morning lecture was held in a room at a health center that exuded a Showa-era vibe from the outside. In the dimly lit hallway of the building, papers with arrows and the words "Pre-registration basic training this way" were posted on the walls. Following the signs like a maze, I arrived at a large room that looked like it was from an old school, with long desks and pipe chairs neatly lined up.
There were more couples who came to learn like us than I had imagined, probably about 20 pairs. There were couples who looked like they were in their 40s, just like us, and there were also couples much younger than us. Seeing the young couples, I selfishly imagined that they were also trying to welcome a child through special adoption, just like us.
Also, there were several elderly couples who seemed to have chosen to become foster parents as a second life, where they would take care of children welcomed as foster parents until they reached adulthood, while leaving the children's family register as it was. Looking around the room, I was surprised that so many people were trying to welcome children, and after greeting those I met for the first time, I took my seat.
The Child Guidance Center staff distributed various prepared handouts and booklets about social care and child development. The booklets were made by stapling together several sheets of straw paper, and the texture of the paper and the faint ink reminded me of my elementary school graduation anthology, making me feel a sense of nostalgia.
We intensively studied the lecture, which was read out according to the booklet in a monotonous voice that made me sleepy, in the morning. In the afternoon, we visited an infant home nearly an hour's drive away and a children's care facility across the road.
I had studied the same things when I was becoming a childcare worker, so it felt like a review, but for my husband, it was all new. After studying for half a day, my brain capacity was full and my sleepiness was at its peak, so I was paying close attention to ensure I wouldn't get sleepy while driving to the next location.
The class ended when my sleepiness reached its peak, to the point where even small, refreshing mint-flavored beads didn't work at all, and we each moved to the infant home and children's care facility for the afternoon visit.
I still remember well how beautiful the mountains were that we could see on the country road on the way, as I talked to my husband about various things to keep him from getting sleepy while driving as we left the city.
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Next is [ Basic Training Before Registration (2) ]
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