Our Journey to adoption

Adoption is something I have always wanted to do. When I met Donovan and had the "how many kids do you want" conversation I was excited to find he felt the same way. At the time, I thought maybe we would have trouble conceiving and then just adopt a bunch of kids. Right now we are very thankful for our daughter Madalyn and other daughter due in a few months. However the desire to adopt has not gone away, it has actually become stronger. I am guessing this is because more parenting instincts have surfaced and we both hate now more than ever to know a child is in need. With that said, after our miscarriage in January we took the Foster parenting class here in Durham. After completing the class, we will probably not adopt through this system. The goal of foster parenting is always reunification with a biological family member and you have no idea when they may be picked up from your home after living with you. The process is very drawn out and younger children with minor health problems usually go to family members. The real need is for families who are able to adopt older children. Being that we have a two year daughter and are fairly young ourselves, we obviously will not be adopting a 15 year old child. Adopting through the foster system is the most cost effective way to go about it. Private and international adoptions through a agency run about 20,000 and up. The two least expensive international countries are Haiti and Ethiopia. (Russia is very expensive) We also have to take into account restrictions placed on the adopting family by the country the child is from. There are a lot. Examples: age, income, how long you have been married, how many children you currently have, etc. We do not have a preference on gender or race so that is in our favor. I have always felt when the time is right, the pieces will fall into place and this has not happened yet so we will keep waiting and praying. The Lord finishes what he starts and I know he has placed this desire in our hearts. Waiting and praying for children you know nothing about is much harder than being pregnant. At least I get to see this child and feel a little control over the situation. Adoption is not for the faint of heart. Having a failed adoption is a common scenario. It is a emotional roller coaster but I remind myself, the Lords grace is enough and he has called us to take care of the orphans. If he has called us, I know he will equip us. Our next step is to get a home study done(when someone approves your house) and work on our savings fund. Some may say, you are pregnant, why are you doing this now? Well, we don’t want to be unprepared when the time is right and often times it can easily take a year to complete an adoption. Updates to comeJ