Adoption in the News

A couple of weeks ago, my local paper ran a large, two part series, on adoption. The first part of the story can be read here, and the second part of the story here.

The story wasn't one of those happy, fuzzy, warm stories about the gift of adoption. Instead, it focused on the dark and corrupt situations that can happen during international adoption. I cannot tell you how many people called me when they read the article, saved the paper for me, or asked me if I read the articles. The story featured in these articles is heartbreaking. My heart goes out to the woman who wanted to be a Mom, prepared for it, bought clothes, cribs, and set up a nursery, only to end up not being able to adopt those children.

I did read the articles, and what I read was scary. T and I's adoption agency has done a really good job at preparing us for the downside of international adoption. I am also very happy to say that before we choose an agency, we did a lot of research. I cannot tell you how happy I am that we did. One of our agency finalists is one of the adoption agencies mentioned frequently in these articles. I was initially drawn to this agency because of their size (very small agency) and because of the wait time to get matched with a child was very small. . . probably the shortest time I've seen of any agency. The woman mentioned frequently in these articles is one I shared many phone calls and emails with. Everytime I had a question, this woman would email me back immediately or give me a phone call. It seemed like a good agency.

I cannot even tell you why T and I decided on a different agency. Maybe we have a little bit of luck on our side? After we signed with our agency, we learned that they are hague accredited. I wasn't specifically looking for that, but once again, I had luck on my side.

Adoption is a really big deal in my home state of MN. Minnesotans adopts the most children than any other state in the country. I'm really proud to be from a state with that wonderful statistic. Because adoption is so common in this state, this article received a lot of attention.

As with everything in life, there are no guarantees. T and I trust that we are working with a good and reputable agency, but things can always go wrong. We are paying all of this non-refundable money, and tomorrow, the country we are adopting from could close their doors to international adoption. There are many unknowns, and at times this whole process can feel very risky.

Daily I try to let go of the things I can't control. And I know I can't control the stability of international adoption. I just hope and pray that the it stays stable so T and I can bring home our little monkey.