Adoption Information - Our Journey Begins
Hi, our names are Brian and Danielle. This is our story of how we came to be a multi-racial family formed by adoption. In this section of the site, we will add some details to our story as well as provide links and other useful information for other families. We also hear a number of questions about our family so I thought I would try to answer some of them here.
Why adoption? Well, first it is a wonderful way to build a family and the best way for us right now. In addition, Danielle has always wanted to adopt a child "someday". After a year and a half of waiting for a biological child and learning it will never be "easy" for us, we felt led by God to look into building our family in this beautiful way. More tests and drugs and doctors for some unknown end was just not as appealing as holding our own child in our arms.
Why Ethiopia? We have long had many connections to Ethiopia from missionary friends in Ethiopia to church friends who are Ethiopian-Americans. Danielle was even able to spend two months in Ethiopia in the summer of 1997. Despite its poverty and struggles, Ethiopia and its people are beautiful and gracious with a long and proud history. Ethiopia also has one of the easiest adoption processes internationally, and presently offer the youngest children on homecoming. Since we met all the requirements for Ethiopia and had so many connections to Ethiopia it was an easy choice for our first adoption.
Why China (and not Ethiopia again)? We also have many connections to China from friends who live there to families in our church who have adopted from China as well. The China program has a long history of being stable, predictable, and fair... if not quick at this point! Most importantly though, we believe that our daughter is in China waiting for us.
Why not adopt domestically? While domestic adoption is very possible, unfortunately it is not always easy. 30-40% of mothers change their minds and decide to parent, sometimes after the adoptive parents have seen the child or taken them home. We know of couples who have had as many as eight faulted adoptions before finally getting a child. This is just not something we wish to put ourselves through when there are many children internationally who desperately need homes.
Wait, didn't you adopt domestically? Yes, we did. Our wonderful son was a domestic adoption. He was a private placement through our social worker's agency, and really just fell into our laps... i.e. the agency sought us out. So I really know very little about the ins and outs of domestic adoption.
Wait, didn't you adopt from Guatemala? Nope. Our son is of Guatemalan heritage, but we did not adopt him from Guatemala (see above). My knowledge of the Guatemala adoption process is also very limited so most links here will just be about Guatemala not adoption.
When did you decide to adopt? We began to consider the idea in early 2005 as it became obvious that the only thing the medications were doing was making Danielle sick. After much prayer and consideration, one day in early spring we felt that this was definitely God's leading. So in May 2005 we started the process.
