Adoptions

Quick context: We’re repeat adopters. Round 1 was with Monica and Kelly (at the same time). Round 2 is with Diego, their younger brother.

Diego

6/11/12

In March of 2012 CHI contacted us letting us know that Diego Fernando was ready for adoption and how soon could we get to Colombia!

The past few months has been a flurry of forms and hoops, but as of this week (when we complete our Biometric exam), we’ll have all our US paperwork complete. Then everything goes to Colombia and we wait.

The hope is that we’ll have Diego home by Christmas.

Monica & Kelly

1/8/08

Zach and I are blessed to be adopting 2 children from Colombia. They will be biological siblings between the ages of 0-4. We started this process in January 2008 and expect to receive a referral sometime in 2010. That means that Colombia will call our agency, Children’s Hope International, and say that they believe they have a match for us. We will get pictures and background information on each child and will make our decision to accept. From that point, we will have 3-4 weeks to prepare for travel. Once in Colombia, we will meet with lawyers, judges, social workers, etc. to complete the process. They estimate a 3-4 week stay in the country to complete everything. Then we come home as a family of 4. Right now, we are waiting in faith and joy until we get that call.

Update 12/11/09

One month from today Zach and I will fly to Colombia to meet 2 little girls who will, God willing, be our daughters. We feel very blessed to have gotten a referral for  Monica (5) and Kelly (4) who are part of a sibling group of six.

While we’re so thankful and give glory to God for the beginning of our journey as parents, we fully recognize that this is a plan that only God could have imagined. We never thought our adoption story would be one with such a unique family tree, with three families being joined together as relatives through the sibling ties of our children. It’s a beautiful story and we’re thankful to be a part of it.

How it happened

Backwards. I can’t think of a better word to describe it. We got a call from our agency during the summer about these 2 girls who were part of a sibling group of 6 that needed to be split up into three different families. There were no serious problems except for that fact that Colombia was not able to place all 6 children in one home. Colombia was looking for 3 families who would make a lifelong commitment to maintain a sibling relationship between the children as much as possible.

Zach and I were one of two families who agreed to adopt 4 of the children; however, one more family needed to be found. For 2 months, we prayed and waited anxiously to hear if a third family would be found. We so wanted to adopt these girls but we knew that everything was in God’s hands. We were very prepared to hear that this adoption would not happen, even though we desired it more than anything.

It’s now been 7 months since we first heard the names Monica and Kelly and in one more month we will meet them face to face. You may be wondering if I left out part of the story, and I did because God is not finished working his wonderful plan to completion.  But I will finish this story in time, because God is good and faithful to complete his work in us.

Update 8/19/10

God is good, and faithful. He promised my brother and sister-in-law a family that included Kelly and Monica’s two brothers Victor and Jesus, and they finally got a match this week. We are praying in earnest that the boys get here in the next few months! We are so happy that Jeff and Kristen are able to welcome these boys into their family, that Ava and Gracie will have two new brothers, that Monica and Kelly will get to see their brothers again and often because they will only live 2 miles away! And that’s the story. A unique family tree that only God could have imagined.

All things work together for the good of those who love the Lord and are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28