So I went to the facility to get my lab-work done. The woman checking me in glanced at the paperwork from the doctor, whose “diagnosis” box on the form read “adoption screening”. She asked me, straight-faced, if I was getting adopted. We laughed. She expressed amazement that I had to go through so much effort to be qualified for adoption. I thus got the opportunity to explain to her that it was all about the safety of the child, that the doctor had to verify that I was neither dying (faster than other people) nor using drugs which might promote an unsafe environment for the baby.
Granted, it was inconvenient having to wait 15 minutes to be checked in, then another 10 minutes before they drew blood for the lab-work, but as I keep being reminded, all decisions in adoption are made on behalf of the child, not for the convenience or preference of the adults involved.