Because of our faith in Jesus, adoption is something very near & dear to our hearts. You'll see that reflected in the posts here as we document our journey to bring home & parent our two sons. I've linked a few past blogs that explain the principle & pragmatics behind our adoption decision.
Why are we adopting?
Adoption FAQs
Our Family's Adoption Timeline
February 14, 2010 Began process with International Adoption Guides; began preparing for home study
April 9, 2010 A mere two days before our home study was to take place, we found out we were pregnant. Our social worker recommended we put our adoption process on hold for a while. We were devastated to put a stop to the our process when we felt like we had gained so much momentum.
May 19, 2010 We were again devastated to find out that we had miscarried.
June 19, 2010 On the horse again! Applied with Small World in order to schedule a second home study.
July 21, 2010 Filed out I-600 form (petition to adopt) at the American embassy in Beijing
July 22-23, 2010 A social worker from Small World flew to our home to conduct our home study.
August 4, 2010 Home study report completed.
August 13, 2010 Completed dossier submitted to Ethiopia.
September 17, 2010 Received approval from US Customs & Immigration Services to adopt (I-171 form). Uncle Sam says go for it!
November 17, 2010 Despite the fact that our age request was for infants one year or below, our agency mentioned a sibling set to us, ages 2.5 years and 6 months. Because of our situation living overseas and being first-time parents, we felt the transition and stress might be lessened if we adopted younger children. It was a pain-staking decision not to accept the referral, but we were thankful to find out that another family in our agency was able to adopt them.
December 9, 2010 Received referrals for two boys: one 4 weeks, one 10-12 months
December 15, 2010 After consulting with our American doctor & much prayer, we joyfully accepted the referrals of the two boys!
February 16, 2011 Received the news that our court date is scheduled for April 12, 2011. We will then fly to Ethiopia, meet our boys, and legally become their parents.
April 9-13, 2011 Our first trip to Ethiopia. Our court appearance was successful and we are now their legal guardians.
May 18, 2011 All our paperwork was submitted to the US Embassy in Addis Ababa.
June 2, 2011 The US Embassy requested an interview with Micah's birth mother and more information about Sami's birth parents.
June 13, 2011 The US Embassy cleared our boys for immigration to the States.
June 20-24, 2011 We headed to Ethiopia to pick up our sons.
June 23, 2011 We have our final interview at the US Embassy and leave with complete custody of Micah & Sami.
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| Our first family picture, April 2011 |
Adoption Resources
This is a video another adopting family created during their process to bring home their daughter. Some of the images & statistics are very stirring.
Literature:
Adopted for Life by Russell Moore
Reclaiming Adoption edited by Dan Cruver
There is No Me Without You by Melissa Fay Greene
I'm Chocolate, You're Vanilla by Marguerite A. Wright
Blog roll:
Together For Adoption
Abba Fund
LifeSong for Orphans
Hope for Orphans
If you've ever considered adoption but just don't know where to start, feel overwhelmed by the process, or aren't sure if it's a good fit for you, please contact us! There is nothing that would make me happier than to talk through the possibility of your family being a child's forever family.
