Adoption

Since we announced that we are adopting a few weeks ago, Will and I have both had a lot of questions about our adoption, so I've decided to address a few of those. Will and I are always happy to answer ANY questions that anyone might have- don't worry about offending us. ;)

Q. Why are you adopting?

A. There are a lot of answers and reasons for this but I'll shorten it as much as possible.

-As Christians, the Bible commands us to care for those who are less fortunate than us.


"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." -James 1:27


While we do not believe this means that every Christian needs to adopt, we do believe that every Christian has a responsibility to care for orphans and widows in some way. For us, we believe it means adoption.


-Adoption is an earthly picture of a Christian's adoption into God's family after Salvation. We once were enemies of God, until He saved us. Once that happens, a Christian becomes a child of God! Amazing!


"Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. "-Romans 8:17


"At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another, But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life." -Titus 3:3-7


-We have sought the Lord's will about adoption since we were engaged. We have always known that adopted children would be part of our family whether or not we had any biological children. We have been patiently waiting and asking the Lord to prepare us for the time He would say, "Go!" We believe we have clearly heard His call to go get our kids!


Q. Where are you adopting from?


A. We are working through the State of Kentucky's Foster/Adoption Program. We do not have a desire to Foster at this time, but some of the children in Foster Care are legally free for adoption. We would be looking at those kids, or kids from other states who are also legally free for adoption.


Q. What age/How many?


A. We have said up to age 7-8ish.. and up to 2 children.


Q. Do you care what race they are?


A. Nope!


Q. What about special needs?


A. As we go through our training classes, they will teach us about all sorts of disabilities and what some needs of children with them might be. We will have to honestly pray through what we feel like we can handle. Some things are obvious- we live in an upstairs apartment, so a child in a wheel chair probably wouldn't be the best choice right now, for example. Because our children will have been removed from their homes, they will have some sort of emotional, physical, or academic need beyond what other children their age would have.


Q. Don't you want to have biological children?


A. Absolutely. We want God to build our family any way He chooses. We have had some fertility issues, and a miscarriage. We have done some fertility treatments, but have just barely scratched the surface of that. At this time, we feel like we need to put our time, energy and resources into adoption. This does not mean that fertility treatments are not an option for later, or that we think they are bad. It just means that for right now, we are adopting.


Q. What if you get pregnant while you're in still in the process of adopting?


A. We will have to discuss that with our social worker. Generally, they won't place a child in your home if you have had a baby and/or adopted within 6 months. (This is our understanding anyway.)


Q. What is the adoption process?


A. It varies by agency, so this wouldn't be true of all adoptions- but for us:


1. We had to attend an informational session.
2. We are currently attending 10 training sessions (ours are 2 sessions/day for 5 Saturdays)
3. We have TONS of paperwork including: a Family Profile, financial statement, medicals, credit references, personal references, acceptance scales, etc.
4. We will have 2, 2 1/2 hour home visits to complete our Home Study.
5. We will (hopefully) be approved.
6. We will get our referral, and have a few meetings with the child.
7. The child will be placed in our home, and we will continue to have home visits with our social worker for about 3 months.
8. We go to court! :)


Q. How long does it take?


A. We have been told it will take anywhere from 4-6 months from when we started classes (May 14) to be approved, and we can get our referral anytime after that. We are hoping to have our kids by Christmas.


Q. How much does it cost?


A. Are you sitting down? NOTHING! Since we are working through the state and these children are considered "hard to place," the state subsidizes their adoptions, and it will not cost us anything, beyond our own travel expenses to adopt them!


Thanks for sharing in our journey! We will continue to post as we go through this process! Please keep us in your prayers!