[from October 17, 2007 on my facebook page] - Around a month ago, we submitted our adoption dossier for approval by the Oficina Para Adopciones (Office for Adoptions) in El Salvador. The dossier took a lot of work, time, and expense to put together. All through the process of preparing it, WE were the limiting factor in our adoption. WE were the one who needed to get this form together, or have a physical exam or psychological exam. WE were the one who had to prepare our house and family for the home study. After 6 months of work, WE were finished and we submitted our paperwork.
Now, WE are no longer in control of our adoption fate and it's kind of scary to be honest. Now, our paperwork is in El Salvador where it will be translated into Spanish and reviewed by governmental officials. We have been told that the approval process will take 3 - 10 months. That sure seems like a long time to read our paperwork and decide whether we would make a good adoptive family.
In looking at the database of other El Salvador adopting families through our agency (America World Adoption), it looks like it consistently takes 6 - 7 months to be approved. That means we'll be waiting until probably March or April before we hear anything. The wait is agonizing. And if that were not enough, once we are approved, we go onto the "referral list" where we wait to have adoptive children referrred to us. You guessed it... we have no idea who our children are yet... no names... no pictures... no history... nothing. It's hard. Harder still is the fact that NO ONE from our agency has EVER received a referral from El Salvador yet. There are a lot of folks ahead of us on the list. Some of them have been waiting 16 - 17 months with no referral. Most of them are looking for infants or toddlers while we are looking for late elementary school aged children. We think (hope) that will shorten our wait time... but there are no guarantees.
I think that the uncertainty would be unbearable if it were not for our faith. We know that it is up to the Lord to take care of our children until we can bring them home. We also know that this will happen in HIS timing and not ours. Matthew chapter 6 has a section (v.25 - 34) that I find myself visiting over and over again these days. It reminds me to not worry and to have faith and seek God. I find a lot of comfort in that because I know that he has never let me down yet. He never will.
If you have the time, please pray for our review to go well and for our children to come home soon.
- Mark
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Our Adoption Journey Begins
[from April 25, 2007 on my facebook page] - My family and I have decided to try to adopt two children from El Salvador. We have two biological children and my wife and I always thought that two was all we wanted... but the Lord had other ideas. Years ago, at a 4Him concert, one of the sponsors gave a presentation about international orphans, their crushing poverty and their almost complete lack of hope. It touched my heart in a profound way and the plight of these children has weighed on me ever since. Several times since, I've given SERIOUS thought about trying to do something about it, but I always thought "what can I do, there are so many how could I make any difference" and "it wouldn't be fair to my children to ask them to make this kind of sacrifice" and "how could I ask my wife to be mother to children that aren't her own"... so I did nothing. I am ashamed of my complacency.
At a recent concert (Steven Curtis Chapman), there was a similar presentation by a Christian International Adoption agency. It touched me again, and as I looked at my wife, I could see by her face and her moist eyes, that it touched her as well. Then, out of the blue, my 7 year old said "Dad, we have enough food and enough love... we should adopt one of these children who needs a family. If we get a boy, he can even stay in my room." From the mouths of babes... My 10 year old immediately jumped on the idea (through tear soaked eyes) and gave me the hardest, most loving hug as she said she also thought we should adopt. My wife whispered in my ear that she has felt the same thing for a long time but never thought we could actually do it. It was a real clarifying moment. I knew we would do this. I knew we couldn't NOT do this.
So here we are, on the road to an interanational adoption. After careful discussion, my wife and I agreed that we have the room, the love, and the patience (hopefully) to not adopt one child, but instead we are going to to try to adopt TWO. I'm still not entirely sure how we settled on El Salvador after also looking at China, Russia, Hungary, and several other countries. I think maybe it was their eyes. They say that when you look at the adoption materials, eventually one of the photos will speak to you. The soft, frightened brown eyes of a Salvadoran child burned their way into my heart and so we're adopting from El Salvador. We have begun the process of our "paper pregnancy" and it will likely take at least a year to a year and a half and we will have to travel to El Salvador for about 3 weeks when it's time to go bring our children home. We have so much to do until then... I'm re-learning Spanish, we are builing another bedroom (converting a play room), we have to complete our home study with a social worker, pay all of the fees (WOW... never knew how expensive it was to adopt a child from abject poverty) ...lots to do.
If you are the praying type, please keep us in your prayers as we move along this journey.
At a recent concert (Steven Curtis Chapman), there was a similar presentation by a Christian International Adoption agency. It touched me again, and as I looked at my wife, I could see by her face and her moist eyes, that it touched her as well. Then, out of the blue, my 7 year old said "Dad, we have enough food and enough love... we should adopt one of these children who needs a family. If we get a boy, he can even stay in my room." From the mouths of babes... My 10 year old immediately jumped on the idea (through tear soaked eyes) and gave me the hardest, most loving hug as she said she also thought we should adopt. My wife whispered in my ear that she has felt the same thing for a long time but never thought we could actually do it. It was a real clarifying moment. I knew we would do this. I knew we couldn't NOT do this.
So here we are, on the road to an interanational adoption. After careful discussion, my wife and I agreed that we have the room, the love, and the patience (hopefully) to not adopt one child, but instead we are going to to try to adopt TWO. I'm still not entirely sure how we settled on El Salvador after also looking at China, Russia, Hungary, and several other countries. I think maybe it was their eyes. They say that when you look at the adoption materials, eventually one of the photos will speak to you. The soft, frightened brown eyes of a Salvadoran child burned their way into my heart and so we're adopting from El Salvador. We have begun the process of our "paper pregnancy" and it will likely take at least a year to a year and a half and we will have to travel to El Salvador for about 3 weeks when it's time to go bring our children home. We have so much to do until then... I'm re-learning Spanish, we are builing another bedroom (converting a play room), we have to complete our home study with a social worker, pay all of the fees (WOW... never knew how expensive it was to adopt a child from abject poverty) ...lots to do.
If you are the praying type, please keep us in your prayers as we move along this journey.
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