"The very least you can do in your life is to figure out what you hope for. And the most you can do is live inside that hope. Not admire it from a distance but live right in it, under its roof." ~Barbara Kingsolver
The Poisonwood Bible
I've been "living inside that hope" for quite some time now... actually since August 8, 2005, to be exact. But I am just now beginning to share my adoption journey on this blog. We'll see how it goes.... I will try not to be too boring -- which means I'll try not to post too much regular, everyday stuff! And you can always pick and choose what you want to read...
I'll start with how/when I started my quest to adopt a little girl from The People's Republic of China. I've wanted to be a mother for a very long time -- I'll spare you the details as that would be starting much too long ago! I had been considering adoption as a way to have a family for a very long time, too -- I think I went to my first "adoption workshop" - just to gather some basic information - about 7 years ago (in 2000). In 2004-05, after my plans to marry did not come to pass, and I realized that - believe it or not - I was not getting any younger! - I began to consider adoption much more seriously. My biggest fears were two-fold: financial and not having a husband/partner to help me and share this journey with me. But after doing a zillion budgets, I decided that - while it would be tight - especially the first few years because of daycare costs - I could handle the financial aspect. And I ultimately decided that my desire to be a parent and also give a child a good home outweighed my fears of parenting "alone" and being a single parent and the hardships that might entail for both my child and for me.
August 8, 2005
And a good childhood friend of mine who had adopted several years ago (and who is married, but that's fine!) - convinced me that I could do this! When a "single slot" with an adoption agency (more on this later -- China has a limit to the number of single parents it allows to adopt) opened up, and I was oh-so-close but wavering if I should go for it - my friend pretty much told me to get out my checkbook and write the check right then to the agency -- in other words, "Just do it!" And so I did. That was August 8, 2005. By the way, this friend then took me on a fabulous trip to a tiny private island in the British Virgin Islands and coached me for 4 days straight in this beautiful paradise about how wonderful it (my adoption) was going to be and to put my fears aside and trust in the Universe. Definitely the biggest leap of faith I've ever taken. I greatly appreciated this long-time friend's support, too. Love to you, B. (Of course, on my flight home, I also realized it would probably be at least another 20 years before I could go on another vacation like that! But somehow I believed it would be worth the the sacrifice :)
On August 15, the very day after I returned from that fabulous trip, I had my first meeting with my social worker, as part of my Home Study. And thus began the "Paperchase" -- what the adoption world calls the several months spent gathering documents, completing forms, etc., that are needed by both the U.S. Government and the Chinese government in order to complete your "dossier" (basically, application) that will be sent to China to request a child for adoption.
I'll start with how/when I started my quest to adopt a little girl from The People's Republic of China. I've wanted to be a mother for a very long time -- I'll spare you the details as that would be starting much too long ago! I had been considering adoption as a way to have a family for a very long time, too -- I think I went to my first "adoption workshop" - just to gather some basic information - about 7 years ago (in 2000). In 2004-05, after my plans to marry did not come to pass, and I realized that - believe it or not - I was not getting any younger! - I began to consider adoption much more seriously. My biggest fears were two-fold: financial and not having a husband/partner to help me and share this journey with me. But after doing a zillion budgets, I decided that - while it would be tight - especially the first few years because of daycare costs - I could handle the financial aspect. And I ultimately decided that my desire to be a parent and also give a child a good home outweighed my fears of parenting "alone" and being a single parent and the hardships that might entail for both my child and for me.
August 8, 2005
And a good childhood friend of mine who had adopted several years ago (and who is married, but that's fine!) - convinced me that I could do this! When a "single slot" with an adoption agency (more on this later -- China has a limit to the number of single parents it allows to adopt) opened up, and I was oh-so-close but wavering if I should go for it - my friend pretty much told me to get out my checkbook and write the check right then to the agency -- in other words, "Just do it!" And so I did. That was August 8, 2005. By the way, this friend then took me on a fabulous trip to a tiny private island in the British Virgin Islands and coached me for 4 days straight in this beautiful paradise about how wonderful it (my adoption) was going to be and to put my fears aside and trust in the Universe. Definitely the biggest leap of faith I've ever taken. I greatly appreciated this long-time friend's support, too. Love to you, B. (Of course, on my flight home, I also realized it would probably be at least another 20 years before I could go on another vacation like that! But somehow I believed it would be worth the the sacrifice :)
On August 15, the very day after I returned from that fabulous trip, I had my first meeting with my social worker, as part of my Home Study. And thus began the "Paperchase" -- what the adoption world calls the several months spent gathering documents, completing forms, etc., that are needed by both the U.S. Government and the Chinese government in order to complete your "dossier" (basically, application) that will be sent to China to request a child for adoption.
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