Our Blog

Selam! I first started this blog as a way to organize my thoughts. There is so much to do concerning our adoption. I wanted to make sure and write it all down so I wouldn't ever forget this process. You are invited to view our blog because Hubby and I want to share our adoption journey with our close friends and family. We hope that you will celebrate with us now, and when we bring home our child.

NOTE: At this time, we are not using our names, because we are not sure how public we want to be yet.

THE RESEARCH

I have always wanted to adopt. I can't pinpoint the exact moment at which I knew I wanted to adopt, but it feels like the desire has always been there.

October 1, 2009: Hubby and I started to talk more seriously about adoption. We weighed the risks and benefits of domestic vs. international and decided on international adoption.

For the rest of the month of October, we researched 4 different international agencies:

America World – liked the Spirit of Adoption focus found in Romans 8:15 – “For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of Adoption by whom we cry out “Abba, Father.” Did not like the “it’s a vacation” mentality they portrayed. As if you just travel there, stay in a fancy hotel and then merely pick up your child on the way back to the US. However, I think they would have come in 2nd place for us.

Bethany Christian Services – did not like much about this agency. They claimed to be Christian, but they only mentioned Jesus one time during their whole 1 hour plus presentation. In addition, they used the same picture for China and South Korea. The people are not the same!

Wide Horizons For Children (WHFC) – Our agency!!! From the moment we watched their webinar, we became more invested in adopting from Ethiopia. Their main focus is on keeping the birth family together and a lot of humanitarian aid, and only as a last resort do they turn to adoption. They also encouraged adoptive parents (AP) to travel to visit birth family and stated that 90% of their APs get the opportunity to do so. In addition, this is the same agency Angelina Jolie adopted from and she donated money to build Horizon House where we will stay and take immediate custody of our child once we arrive in Ethiopia.

WACAP – similar to WHFC, but less emphasis on the things of importance to us. In addition, they never got their webinar to work. The next day, the social worker called us to talk with us personally, but she called at the last possible moment when it was very inconvenient for us. Also, during some of the talk, she would inadvertently put down other agencies. Plus, this agency was located in California and I could see the problems associated with us being in a different time zone.

During this month, we also researched 2 local partner agencies of WHFC: Adoption Support Center and Adoptions of Indiana (AI). It was fairly easy to pick Adoptions of Indiana, because Adoption Support Center never sent us the information packet we requested. Adoptions of Indiana was great from the start. From the first moment I called to inquire about their home study services, they sent out a very detailed information packet. In addition, their international social worker Jennifer Morrissey, worked efficiently to give us a reduced rate on our home study since we had one done previously for foster parenting. She did all this before we even contracted with them to provide us services!