Our journey to Ethiopia began back in 2006, when my husband and I each discovered that the other had been thinking about adoption. We had been trying to conceive for quite some time and it just wasn't happening for us. Over the next several years, we tried countless fertility treatments, but nothing worked. As heartbreaking as infertility can be, we knew this was not the end of the road in our quest to become parents.
In 2008, our hearts told us that our family is in Africa. We have fallen in love with the country of Ethiopia and cannot wait to travel to Addis Ababa and meet our children! Please join us on our journey to parenthood!
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One couple's journey to build a family through international adoption
About Me
- Carrey
- We are extremely excited to announce that we're embarking on the expedition of a lifetime: we are starting our family by adopting a child from Ethiopia! Through this blog, we hope our friends and family (and anyone else who's interested in adoption and/or Africa) will join us on our journey to parenthood.
Our Adoption Journey:
- August 7, 2008 - Recommendation letters sent. Called doctor to make appointment for physicals. Application received by Partners for Adoption. Received Adoption Homestudy Guidebook.
- August 6, 2008 - Ordered DVDs for Hague Training.
- August 5, 2008 - Mailed first group of paperwork to Gladney (Application, Statement of International Adoption Risks, Acceptance of Adoption Risks, Notarized Gladney Agreement, PCR Form, Service Plan Agreement, and Child Preference Form). Mailed application and contract to Partners for Adoption. Expedited paperwork to U.S. Passport Office.
- July 10, 2008 - Completed KBS Dossier application. Received updated passport.
- July 1, 2008 - Met with doctor and received medical clearance to adopt.
- June 24, 2008 - Spoke with Cara Helberg at Partners for Adoption. Application emailed. Need medical documentation for home study.
- June 23, 2008 - Paid adoption application fee to Gladney.
- June 20, 2008 - Emailed "Request for International Adoption Application" and medical documentation to Gladney. Opened a FedEx account for shipment of adoption records.
- June 17, 2008 - Phone orientation with Debra Parris at Gladney. Contacted Diana Chang at Partners for Adoption to schedule Home Study. Contacted Kate Sproat at KBS Dossiers to begin compiling our dossier. Downloaded CDC documents regarding necessary immunizations. Made doctors' appointments to gather documentation.
- June 11, 2008 - We received preliminary approval from Gladney! Our phone orientation is scheduled for the week of June 16th.
- June 6, 2008 - We decided to go with Gladney!! Completed and emailed our "Adoption Information Sheet," along with a photo.
- June 5, 2008 - Phone consultation with Debra Parris at Gladney. Waiting for our information sheet so we can begin the application process.
- May 2008 - We have narrowed our search to two potential adoption agencies. Phone consultations are planned for the week of June 2nd.
- March 2008 - We request information from several adoption agencies.
- February 2008 - Our hearts tell us our child is in Ethiopia. I begin stalking adoption blogs and learning everything possible about Ethiopia.
- October 2007 - We begin researching both domestic and international adoption.
- July 2006 - My husband and I discover we have both been thinking about adoption.
Adoption Blogs:
- All These Reasons
- Anil & Angela
- Battle Station
- Beeler Adoption
- Ben & Rebecca
- Better World
- Bottomlys
- Bringing Home Baby Ian
- Drew Carey Show
- Ethiodyssey
- Guzo: Ethiopia
- Imagine Alyzabeth An
- Job's Daughters
- Journey to Family
- Julie at The Eyes . . .
- Kerri's Journey
- Martin Brophy
- My Ethiopian Princess
- Nutshell
- Oh Baby
- Our Journey to Ethiopia
- Quinn Babylicious
- Renee & Geert
- Sutt 'n Buckley
- The Blys
- The Long Road to China
- The Lyons Family
- The River to Africa
- The Road to Our Own
- The Walkers
- Waiting . . .
8 comments:
Welcome to the Ethio blogosphere! Will be excited to follow your journey here, as a fellow BUer. :-)
So excited you guys started an Ethiopian adoption blog! We look forward to following along on your journey. Thanks again for the shout-outs and of course for helping pull together that amazing gift! We were totally touched and look forward to next year's BU.
Hey there, so glad you started an adoption blog so I can follow along. I don't think I ever got to introduce myself at the BU but I'm Laura. :) Looking forward to following your journey.
Loved meeting you guys and glad I now have a blog to follow! Looking forward to updates!
Wonderful! Congratulations and thanks for inviting us to follow along. :)
Hooray! I will be following! Great to meet you guys.
I am glad that you are doing an Ethiopian adoption blog...I can't wait to follow your journey to your little one!! Thanks again for your kindness last weekend..it was so great to meet you!!
Hi Dena! I hope you're doing well. It was great to meet you at the Blog Union, I just wanted to drop you a quick note to see how you're doing.
Renee
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