New Adoption Programs with Shorter Wait Times

My last blog referred to a site listing adoption requirements by country, including several countries with small and fairly new adoption programs. Many of these programs have shorter timeframes than countries whose adoption programs are more well-known. A word of caution is in order here: timeframes can be unpredictable when a country is new. Perhaps their court system or passport and visa offices don’t work as quickly as their adoption approval process. Perhaps the system will be vulnerable to major changes when a new administration and/or legislative body takes office. While these programs are understandably attractive to those who want … Continue reading

Our Adoption Story – The Wait Gets Long

Laney’s agency originally told us that she would be home by Christmas 2006. Now it was Spring 2007 and still no Laney – and no real news either. Then we received the news that our agency had decided to pull out immediately and stop working on adoptions. Naturally, everyone panicked and for several days we thought Laney was not coming home. When I got the email from our agency I turned to my husband and said “That’s it. We just lost Laney.” My husband, being much more practical and balanced than I am, encouraged me not to give up hope … Continue reading

Christmas Morning Walk

My three children spend Christmas Day with their father and all his relatives. It wasn’t always easy for me–in fact, in the early years after the divorce it was incredibly painful and I felt like it was unfair and unjust–after all, wasn’t I the one who even WANTED to have these children and hadn’t I been the primary care parent dealing with all the doctor’s appointments, school meetings, etc.? How is it that after all that I ended up alone on Christmas? Eventually, of course, I got over myself and adjusted. After all, that is one of the grand things … Continue reading