In Which things get more Complicated than they should…. and the Housework Suffers

An adoption update.

I don’t have time this morning to give you the whole saga of the last few days. Let me just say that nothing is ever as simple as it seems!

Number one: we have backed away from considering the children we were initially interested in. After getting more information and videos, we have decided that it would be a big stretch for our family to try and address their needs. If we didn’t have Anna and Maggie so young, we would adopt one of the first boys without hesitation. However, our girls are not older… so we decided to step back and see if there is a better fit for us.

Going “back to square one” is discouraging. No joke.

We called to our adoption forum for help. One lady responded with something besides counsel – she said she had heard of a 18 month old with Down Syndrome who is waiting for adoption in “our country” in Eastern Europe (not supposed to list country names in blogs). It seemed like an answer to prayer and my heart jumped with hope. I had only been told by my current circles that only children older than 4 or 5 with special needs were waiting. I followed up with the agency and learned that they still have his file and that they seem to have access to many children under two years old who are waiting for adoption.

Wait… didn’t my first reputable source say that there were no children in that age range waiting? And this agency says differently? Insert doubt and mistrust. Plenty of it. What a disgusting feeling to have to deal with when trying to adopt! Let the agency research engines fire away… I am going to look at the agencies under a microscope and ask them lots of questions too.

Meanwhile, Hollie noticed the MOST ADORABLE baby boy on Reece’s Rainbow who is about 15 months old right now and lives in Belize, which is Central America. He has Down Syndrome and he is in foster care (much better than an orphanage setting). Oh my goodness…. I know that all adoptions have many hurdles to overcome, but adopting this little boy would be SO MUCH more in our comfort zone, so much like an adoption from the US (plus lots of cash and some travel)… we don’t know what to do. We have felt so drawn to the Eastern Europe country, partly for the desperation of the children there. This little boy is better cared for and has more hope of being adopted. Not to mention, it would be tight getting the (higher) funds available and raised fast enough to adopt him. *phew* What do we do?

And did I mention that the agency (a third) that this little boy is being placed through also claims to have waiting children in “our” country in Eastern Europe that have Down Syndrome and are under the age of two? What is with this?

We are researching three agencies. We are hopeful. We are trying to trust God and not stress. But I have not been successful on the stress bit so far. You should have seen the pile of dishes I did yesterday. Pray for us. It is hard for us to be “floating” so much. I long for the day that I am “safely” wrapped in the arms of one adoption agencies policies and procedures.