Twists and Turns

{via}

Two weeks ago our file was ready to go to Korea.

The director of our program was in Korea at the time...we were told she would send our file as soon as she got home.

She came home with news instead...

Korea has already met their quota for international adoption visas for the year.  We were told no movement will be seen until late fall. 

Our file will stay in the states for an unknown amount of time.

So we wait.

This is not the end of our journey, we must wait.  At first, we were a little freaked out.  Honestly, we weren't even sure about staying in the Korea program (for a few minutes).  But some time in the past week since we recieved the email, God's peace has washed over our family and I know I needed this time.  If you know me well or have read my other blog at all, you know the last almost two years have been full of being pregnant, trying to get pregnant, trying to stay pregnant, the intense loss of burying two of our children and beginning the adoption process.  God is showing me that I, that we as a family, are given this time as a gift.  Not to say I don't still get frustrated at the thought of all the little ones waiting for their families and all the families waiting for their little ones and all that is keeping them apart is that peice of paper... 

But, we are waiting.  This is just the twisting of the our thread and turning it to an unbreakable cord. 

I plan on writing much more over now.  Everthing is completely out of our hands.  We have done everything in our power and now we wait.

Thank you all for patiently waiting and for praying with us for our little one and all the other little ones waiting.  Their waiting is much harder than ours.  So who am I to complain?

Twists and Turns

{via}

Two weeks ago our file was ready to go to Korea.

The director of our program was in Korea at the time...we were told she would send our file as soon as she got home.

She came home with news instead...

Korea has already met their quota for international adoption visas for the year.  We were told no movement will be seen until late fall. 

Our file will stay in the states for an unknown amount of time.

So we wait.

This is not the end of our journey, we must wait.  At first, we were a little freaked out.  Honestly, we weren't even sure about staying in the Korea program (for a few minutes).  But some time in the past week since we recieved the email, God's peace has washed over our family and I know I needed this time.  If you know me well or have read my other blog at all, you know the last almost two years have been full of being pregnant, trying to get pregnant, trying to stay pregnant, the intense loss of burying two of our children and beginning the adoption process.  God is showing me that I, that we as a family, are given this time as a gift.  Not to say I don't still get frustrated at the thought of all the little ones waiting for their families and all the families waiting for their little ones and all that is keeping them apart is that peice of paper... 

But, we are waiting.  This is just the twisting of the our thread and turning it to an unbreakable cord. 

I plan on writing much more over now.  Everthing is completely out of our hands.  We have done everything in our power and now we wait.

Thank you all for patiently waiting and for praying with us for our little one and all the other little ones waiting.  Their waiting is much harder than ours.  So who am I to complain?

Why Korea?

We have been asked several times in the course of the past 4 months, "Why did you choose Korea?"

For us, simply put, it was a good fit.

One of the first things we noticed was the short trip requirement.  We do have Ethan at home and we do have to consider him in all of this.  The thoughts of taking two long, unpredictable trips with a 4 year old in tow or leaving him behind was hard for us to swallow.  As of now, Korea is one trip and it will take about 3-5 days. 

Another thing was the short wait time (in terms of international adoption).  At our first interview, we were told that after the homestudy is complete, they were seeing wait times of 6-9 months for a referral and travel times 3-4 months after that.  In terms of adding a baby to our family, we knew it would be at least this long for us in any way we add to our family.

Something else that really drew our attention to Korea is the stability and the history of the program.  The Korea adoption program is one of the oldest international adoption programs.  The relationship between the US and South Korea is stable and this means the likelihood of unexpected problems or delays due to governmental issues is low.

We also like that the majority of children that can be adopted from South Korea are infants (12 months or younger).  Since we already have Ethan at home, it was our desire to adopt a child younger than he.  He has been begging for a baby sibling for a while and when we talked about adoption, we knew, for us, for right now, younger is better for our family.

Another thing we really thought was a positive was the fact that children in South Korea are in foster homes instead of large, institutionalized orphanages.  Again, for us, for right now, this was a positive because these children have less attachment disorders and other things associated with orphanages.  Again, with a 4 year old at home, this transition is going to be stressful enough for him without knowingly adding possible complications.

Someday we can see ourselves adopting an older child or even from a different country, but for our family, for right now, South Korea is where our hearts are led.

Why Korea?

We have been asked several times in the course of the past 4 months, "Why did you choose Korea?"

For us, simply put, it was a good fit.

One of the first things we noticed was the short trip requirement.  We do have Ethan at home and we do have to consider him in all of this.  The thoughts of taking two long, unpredictable trips with a 4 year old in tow or leaving him behind was hard for us to swallow.  As of now, Korea is one trip and it will take about 3-5 days. 

Another thing was the short wait time (in terms of international adoption).  At our first interview, we were told that after the homestudy is complete, they were seeing wait times of 6-9 months for a referral and travel times 3-4 months after that.  In terms of adding a baby to our family, we knew it would be at least this long for us in any way we add to our family.

Something else that really drew our attention to Korea is the stability and the history of the program.  The Korea adoption program is one of the oldest international adoption programs.  The relationship between the US and South Korea is stable and this means the likelihood of unexpected problems or delays due to governmental issues is low.

We also like that the majority of children that can be adopted from South Korea are infants (12 months or younger).  Since we already have Ethan at home, it was our desire to adopt a child younger than he.  He has been begging for a baby sibling for a while and when we talked about adoption, we knew, for us, for right now, younger is better for our family.

Another thing we really thought was a positive was the fact that children in South Korea are in foster homes instead of large, institutionalized orphanages.  Again, for us, for right now, this was a positive because these children have less attachment disorders and other things associated with orphanages.  Again, with a 4 year old at home, this transition is going to be stressful enough for him without knowingly adding possible complications.

Someday we can see ourselves adopting an older child or even from a different country, but for our family, for right now, South Korea is where our hearts are led.