Wait, Wait, Waiting...

So how long will it take? The agency tells us that once our dossier is approved it takes anywhere from 6-8 months to get a referral. We have requested a male infant under 12 months old but we are open to twins or a sibling group of an infant and a child no older than 4. Once we receive a referral we wait for a travel date and clearance to fly to Ethiopia. While there, we will stay a week in the guest house connected to the orphanage.

So while we wait, we ask that you keep us in your prayers. We have been married for 18 years and this is truly going to change our lives. But we know who our strength comes from and we know that God has guided this entire process because only He could have made this decision possible for us.

Why Ethiopia??

Why not??

During the summer of 2006, we watched the movies Hotel Rwanda and the Constant Gardner. The visual images of the children left behind to fend for themselves for some reason touched our hearts and minds. Now it is not like we didn't know the plight of some of the children in Africa. We have seen the Feed the Children late night infomercials for years, and actually we usually turn the channel but for some reason this time, our hearts were touched. We started discussing the plight of the world’s orphans especially children in Africa. In July 2006 we went to an interest meeting at an international adoption agency. The agency happened to have a program in the African nation of Ethiopia.
In our research we found out that Ethiopia on average has more than 4.5 million orphans! Even though there are many children that need homes in the US, we felt the life circumstances of US born children give them a much better chance at even the most basic survival. In Ethiopia, orphaned, abandoned, or relinquished children may not have access to medical care or proper nutrition, and the potential outcomes for their lives are much more dire.
Not only was there a great need for adoptive parents but they are known for having a relatively straightforward and predictable adoption process, lower costs than other countries (even though none of the costs are low) and available infants. The process used to be faster but more and more people are choosing to adopt from Africa.

We have always heard- No Test~ No Testimony... and that is true. This decision on how to bring children into our lives was truly a TEST. For the test we are thankful because it caused us to stop focusing on the trivial things in life. ( Even though for one of us, it is still a tad bit hard to remember ~ it's not about me...

We truly believe God needed to bring His scriptures to life to draw us closer to Him. As we think about the birth parents that will allow us to raise their children we truly understand the unselfish nature of God when he gave his only begotten Son to us to save us from our sins.

Many people wonder but are afraid to ask… will the child be healthy? Is it possible the baby will be HIV+ or have AIDS?
When the babies are brought to the orphanage they are immediately tested for AIDS and other diseases (Hepatitis, etc.) and “quarantined” to secure the health of the other children in the orphanage. That blood work is repeated 3 months later for verification. In addition to that, parents can order independent tests to be analyzed by their pediatrician stateside. Yes, there are hundreds of thousands of children who do have AIDS in Africa, who are not being adopted. Once it is determined that a child is HIV positive, the child is taken to an AIDS orphanage. After malnutrition, the most commonly reported health problem in adoptable orphans is a simple stomach virus that can be treated with antibiotics and parasites .

Aren't there black children that need homes in the U.S.?

Yes, there are but we were not led to adopt in the United States.

In 2005 we started the adoption process with a public agency in our state through the foster care system. We attended months of classes and had begun the homestudy process. Each class discussed the situations we might encounter by adopting from the foster care system. Some of the children who are in foster care are children who have experienced abuse or neglect at the hands of their parents and have been removed from their homes. These days many single mothers decide to parent their children and we were told that it was unlikely that we get a child under the age of 2. The biggest “restriction” on parents adopting infants within the U.S. is that only 1.4 percent of pregnant, single women place their babies for adoption (National Survey of Family Growth, 2002). The majority of children in care available for adoption are 7 or older. The first priority of foster care is reunification of the child(ren) with the biological family, and children are frequently in foster care for two years before parental rights are terminated and children are available for adoption.

Domestic infant adoption through a private agency was another option, but it is quite competitive and these days there are far more families wanting to adopt than there are infant children. The process is quite different. Many agencies now advocate open adoptions where birth parents have regular contact with their children. Being first time parents, we didn’t particularly favor this option. Adoptive parents have to prepare Dear Birthmother letters/portfolios to win the hearts of a mother who wants to relinquish her child. This process is unpredictable , you are in competition with other families and ultimately the birthmother could change her mind.

Let the Adventure Begin!

After many years of prayer, we have decided to bring children into our home through adoption. This decision has taken over 5 years.

Through the years many have asked …"don’t you want children…when are you going to start a family.” Of course like most married couples, when we got married we both assumed that we would have children but, that day hasn’t come. Those who know me well, know that we contemplated for years over how to bring children into our house…to go the fertility route or not… both of us however, wanted children to be a part of our lives. It is truly amazing how God can change hearts and minds and bring two minds on one accord. Through these struggles, we learned a valuable lesson- it is not our will that controls things but HIS will and God had other plans for our lives. We are thankful to be blessed with a church family with a few members who have adopted beautiful children and after speaking with them on numerous occasions and praying much over the matter we made the decision to adopt.

In August of 2006, we made the decision to begin our family through an international adoption. We chose A.S.I.A, an affiliate of Children's Home Society and Family Services( CHSFS) as our adoption agency.

Our first step was to begin the application process. This involved the following:

Apply for an application to adopt with USCIS (formerly INS) called an I600A form ~Get fingerprinted for USCIS ~Start your application process and homestudy. A homestudy is basically an approval from social services that allows you to adopt. Submitting the application and going through the homestudy means you get fingerprinted and collect all sorts of documents like autobiographies that detail your entire life history, medical examination reports from your doctor, tax returns, financial statements, employment verification letters, proof of medical insurance, proof of life insurance, birth certificates and marriage certificates. They also ask for four references letters to be written by non-family members and one face to face interview with one of your references. Thanks to Marlene and Jimmy, Staci, Brenda and Don, and June and Rev. Ellis. Then, they have a social worker meet with you 4 times- 1st a joint interview, then private interviews and the last time is for an home inspection. We assembled all of the necessary paperwork for our application and it was accepted on January 10, 2007.

Our next step was to begin our homestudy/ w our social worker. Our joint interview was on January 27, 2007. My individual interview February 8, 2007 and his individual interview was on February 10, 2007 . Our home visit was on February 24, 2007 and our confidential reference interview was conducted with our pastor, Rev. Ellis, March 13, 2007. Our homestudy approval date was March 27, 2007.

Next it's on the dossier. It is very similar to the homestudy paperwork, but in more detail.
Every document has to be notarized and have a special seal by the Secretary of State. You have to be very careful in all of your dates. NOTHING can expire until the process and travel has been complete, or they will kick the whole dossier (collection of documents) right back at you. No exceptions. You have to make sure you choose a notary, social worker, homestudy agency and doctor whose license or commission does not expire until well after you plan on being home with your child(ren). The documents that we had to collect are as follows: *Petition to Adopt *I171-H (this is what the I600A turns into after you are approved by INS) * Notarized Completed Original Homestudy *Copy of Homestudy License * Copy of Social Worker’s License * Notarized State Police Clearance Letter * Notarized County Police Clearance Letter * Notarized Medical Clearance from Doctor *Notarized Verification of Employment Letters * Certified Marriage Certificates * Certified Birth Certificates *Copy of Passports *Notarized Power of Attorney –

When we walked into the bank to have all of these forms notarized they tried to service us at the counter but after seeing the piles of papers they took us to the back so we could sit at a desk.

When we have compiled all of our documents called the dossier, it is shipped to our agency for approval and then off to Ethiopian Embassy for translations and then off to Ethiopia.
Our Dossier was approved April 26, 2007.

Let the wait begin!