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As I mentioned when I introduced this series in Adoptive Parent Profile Series, my first attempt at an adoptive parent profile scrapbook was not good. I was very guarded, which communicated that I was not willing to open up my life to a placing mother. Placing mothers reacted to this by matching with other hopeful adoptive couples who were presumably more emotionally open.
I do not know if most placing mothers would have necessarily been able to articulate why they were not drawn to my profile, but there was definitely something about my profile that was not attractive. I now know that the “something” was my reserve.
A couple of my friends, who were also experienced in creating scrapbooks, helped me to redesign our profile. Here are the big changes that they made:
Photographs
My friends were in a much better position to judge my family photographs. When I looked at a photograph, I remembered what was going on before and after the photo was taken, so I could not view the photos objectively. My friends did a much better job in selecting photographs that represented who we were as a couple.
For example, I loved one picture of my husband because it showed off his beautiful blue eyes. My friends threw it out because the expression on his face we stern. I knew that he was not angry because I was there when the picture was taken, but the picture really did not show his warmth. I strongly suggest that you ask friends to review your photographs before including them in your profile because they can offer you a much more objective opinion of the pictures you include.
Colors and Stickers
My friends chose a sunny yellow cover to express warmth. They chose backgrounds of pastels, matching them with the theme of the photos on each page, that also expressed warmth. Each two-page spread included stickers that completed a theme.
For example, on the two-page spread of my husband’s childhood, they used a baby blue background and included stickers of a baseball, a dog, and some small stars. The stickers were small enough that they did not detract from the photos, but they enhanced the feeling of warmth. As I posted previously, I could not understand what stickers had to do with matching with a placing mother. I now realize that the right stickers can enhance the feeling of warmth and openness.
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