The Details

We would just like to say thank you for all the kind words we have received since we announced our adoption yesterday!  Your love and support is so very heartwarming!  We have been asked a lot of questions about how the adoption will work, so I thought I would fill you in on the details. 

~  We are adopting from Eastern Europe.  Why there?  Due to my young age we were limited in the countries we could choose from.  Each country has its own set of rules about who can adopt.  "Our country" was one of the 3 countries that we qualified for out of our 2 top agencies. We would have been thrilled with a child from any country, but we felt God calling us here.

~  Our agency states that for healthy child adoption, the process will average between 3-5 years.  This time frame could vary greatly depending on the health status of the child, age and gender that we specify in our paperwork.  We are still in prayer about what God would choose for our family in all three of these categories.

~  How old will our kiddo be?  We would like to bring home a child younger than our sweet girl in order to maintain birth order.  Because "our country" releases children for adoption in their country before releasing them for international adoption, the youngest the child would likely be is 2 years old by the time he or she comes home. 

~  Why international adoption?  We chose international adoption because God told us to pursue this particular country. We think that both domestic and international adoption are wonderful and blessed by the Father, but His call for us was to look here.

~  Where are we in the process?  We submitted our application about 2 weeks ago and received word that we had been officially accepted into the program a few days later.  This week, we will submit our first stack of paperwork and our first agency fee.  After that is processed, we will begin our home study, which is a series of in-depth interviews in our home with a social worker. 

~  Why is international adoption so expensive?  I have asked this same question!  There are many fees involved in the adoption process.  These are required to pay for the employees at the agency here in the US, translation costs for the paperwork, employees in country, travel expenses, court costs in the US and there, and supporting the orphanage where our child will live until we arrive to bring him or her home.  We do not support or condone the buying or selling of children in any way. 

~  How will you pay for this adoption?  We only know that God told us to step out in faith and that He has promised that He already has a plan.  We do not know where the funds will come from, but trust that our Father, who paid our ransom with the life of His Son, can certainly provide the funds to bring home the child He has selected for our family.  We do plan to have several fundraisers, doing odd jobs, working on my in-laws' farm, and saving every penny we can in order to help cover the costs.  We know God will provide and strengthen our faith and those following our story.  I am anxiously awaiting sharing on the blog the miracles He will perform!

~  Will you travel there?  Yes.  We will make two trips.  When we receive a match to our child, we will travel  for a week to meet him or her and begin the bonding process.  We will then return home and wait for our child's paperwork to go through the court system.  This will likely take several months (I am already dreading having to say goodbye and leave our precious little one on the other side of the world and simply wait!).  After our child is cleared, we will travel back and bring him or her home forever!


If you have any other questions, I would love to answer them!  Just like a pregnant mama, I love talking about the child we are expecting.   We so appreciate your support and prayers as we navigate this process and all of the emotions it brings.