Paperwork

After a recommendation from our agency in Bulgaria we adjusted our home study. All we simply changed was to add our requested child age from 0-24 months old to 0-36 months old. We where told they would always try to get the youngest child possible for us if that is what we wanted but that they thought this would look favorable for us as a family to the court system. For some reason this little detail change really was a struggle for me to decide. In hindsight it is funny that it rattled me so much. I have always thought our son would probably be 2-3 years old but for some reason just having to make another decision rattled my cage. I think I had just been so relieved at the fact that we where finished with everything we could do that the slightest decision was very hard to make. All over with now! Paperwork done and sent! Now we just wait again to hear from our Bulgarian contacts. I laugh and joke at the fact that some time I feel like we are dealing with some secret underground world like the Mafia. I am just glad that we have the real "Godfather" in control. Thank you all for your prayers and best wishes!!!

Amazing News

I checked in with out International agency just to check on our progress. I didn't expect much news but didn't think it would hurt to ask. We discovered all of our documents arrived well and looked good to the lawyers in Bulgaria. The exciting news we found out was that the cost of our adoption has been reduced by almost $4000. I know last year the adoption program in Bulgaria went through massive changes. I am assuming they discovered a more cost effective way and have lowered the fees. What ever the reason I am excited and amazed!!!

How we began our journey.

In November 2009 Frank and I decided it was time to start our adoption journey. We had known several families who had adopted so we knew a little bit about how to get started. We had friends years ago who had used Catholic Charities for their home study so that is where we started. We then had to decide domestic or international. We quickly learned as a family that already had children we would not be eligible for a young child in this country unless we knew a birth mother. We felt like that was not the direction God was leading us so we decided to adopt internationally.

So what country do you pick? We first thought Russia. We had known several people who have adopted from Russia and had amazing experiences. However, We quickly discovered that Russia was not realistically within our budget. So the homework began. I learned all about travel requirements, travel expenses, length of time requirements and all of the other things required by different countries. We where instantly drawn to Bulgaria. I know it was a GOD thing. Once we decided on Bulgaria we still had to pick an agency to work with. We had our home study agency but we had to have an international agency that worked with Bulgaria. We where given a huge list of international agencies from Catholic Charities and looked at each and everyone of them. We were led to a small not for profit agency out of Portland Oregon. They seemed so knowledgeable and just like the right fit for us. Once again it was a GOD thing!

We are now at the point in our adoption journey where all of our paperwork has left the US and is in Bulgaria somewhere with someone!! I am new to this blogging stuff so I am going to work on a time line to show how our process has gone thus far.