Our Adoption FAQs

I think there may be some confusion based on our last post. Sorry about that. When we say, "we're adopting," we really mean that we're in the process of adoption.

I suppose now is a good time to answer some of the FAQs about our adoption.

Q: Domestic or international adoption?
A: We are pursuing a domestic adoption, so our little one will be from the US, and likely from North Carolina

Q: What age child are you adopting?
A: Under 2, but our agency has told us that most of the children that they place with families are newborns. That's pretty exciting for us because we'll get to experience all the milestones with our little one.

Q: How many children are you adopting?
A: Probably one for now, but we'll see what the Lord has planned ;)

Q: Boy or girl? What race? Etc...
A: We don't know! We have no preference, so we'll find out the day we receive a call that a little one is waiting for us. What a day that will be!

Q: What does the adoption process look like?
A: I can only speak about our domestic adoption experience, but it is by no means a short process. We don't get to simply turn in an application and receive a baby (thank goodness). The first stage of the process is filling out a ton of paperwork and training for the homestudy. We have to disclose everything about our lives, from our hobbies and what our home looks like to a medical exam and a detailed view of our finances. We are in this stage. Hopefully, we're nearing the end of this part. Then, we'll begin the homestudy with a social worker (I hear there is more paperwork during the homestudy, too). This could take up to three months, and requires several visits with our social worker. We can then be on the agency's waiting list. And then we wait…

If you have any other questions, leave a comment and we'll be glad to answer them.

--Jessica

Why Not Now?

Hopefully this post will answer at least one of the questions you may have about adoption: why? Why are we adopting at all, and why are we pursuing it now?

We are confident that adoption is a good thing that is ordained by God. After all, adoption is his plan for us.

"In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ  as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth" (Ephesians 1:5-10).

So, in love we are adopted and adopting. Our primary reason for adopting is that we want to reflect the heart of God toward the fatherless. While not all must adopt, Scripture is abundantly clear that we should care for the fatherless and widows (Deut. 10:18; Psalm 68:5-6; James 1:27...just to name a few). One way you can do this is by supporting couples who are adopting. There are so many ways you can do this, so just ask!

We are also adopting because we believe that children are blessings from the Lord. We are very much looking forward to being parents!

So why now? For quite some time, adoption has been a part of our Plan A. We felt the Lord leading us toward adoption, but just thought it would be a "someday" sort of thing. Our plan was to have a few biological children, then pursue adoption. Through some difficult years of dealing with infertility, our heart has begun to shift in regard to "our plans." Our illusion of control in planning our family was quickly shattered, and seems almost comical now. We knew the Lord wants us adopt, so we began asking "why not now?" We couldn't think of a single good reason. Perhaps the Lord was simply opening the door to adoption sooner than we thought.

There are a lot of good reasons to adopt now:
- We're in a relatively stable place, by the grace of God
- We would love the opportunity to be parents, and would welcome a child into our family
- There are THOUSANDS of children who need forever families each year.
- The Lord keeps pulling our hearts towards adoption. 

Lord help us if adoption ever becomes a desperate attempt to get children by any means possible. That's not why we're adopting. Adoption will never heal the heartache of infertility (or any other issue in a family), and it isn't meant to. Instead, adoption is a great way for our family to reflect the Father's love for us. We love you already, little one!

We are ADOPTING!

We are adopting, and so very excited to share our journey with you all! There will certainly be more to come in the next few days about why, how, when, and where…but for now, here are some of our adoption announcement photos by the wonderful Rebecca Keller. 

Taking the photos made this journey seem more "real" to us, and for me (Jessica) it was one of those moments that my friend, Kaci, talks about in her blog. I love her description of the really important moments in adoption: they are like the kicks in a pregnancy that make mom and dad so excited and ready to meet their baby! This was definitely an "adoption kick" moment :)