A lot of people will ask me how we chose an adoption agency, and how we decided on Ethiopia, as far as countries to adopt from.
When Kyle and I decided to start this process, we just celebrated his 26th birthday and I was only 25. Believe it or not, that's pretty young. At least in adoption world anyway. I did a lot of research on countries and requirements for each of them. A lot of countries had requirements we just didn't even come close to. Examples: married couples must be married for 5 years (we were about to celebrate our 2nd.), married couples must both be 30 years old, one spouse has to be 35, are you getting the picture here? We just didn't fit. Except, Ethiopia.
We had people ask us this during our process, "why not adopt here in the US, they need it too" We absolutely agreed with that statement, it didn't matter to us where our child came from, but we had to consider our emotions. At that time, we just didn't feel led to a US adoption. There is a reality that a birth mother could change her mind at the last minute and decide to parent her baby. We want what is best for any child, but we also knew ourselves. It just didn't seem like we could handle the emotional side of possibly losing a match during that time. I'm going to post more about that part of our story, but it wasn't a quick response to hearing bad news at one Dr. appointment. We had lost something that we weren't expecting and we had been through a lot within that past year.
Choosing an agency wasn't overwhelming to me. Maybe it was because I just wanted to start the process. However, we didn't just choose willy nilly either. A dear friend of mine's sister had adopted recently, so I asked about her agency. When I called the agency, they asked how I heard about them. I told them the child's name, but couldn't remember their last name at the time. They immediately knew who I was talking about. That was HUGE to me. The families weren't just numbers, they are families waiting for their children. I loved that, and it really made an impact on my decision. After talking to Kyle about it, we chose them and began our paperwork.
Personally, I loved having a smaller agency. Ethiopia was a great match for our family, and ultimately brought Zola to us. The country, the culture, the people are all amazing and I'm so thankful God closed so many doors and Ethiopia was our choice.
When Kyle and I decided to start this process, we just celebrated his 26th birthday and I was only 25. Believe it or not, that's pretty young. At least in adoption world anyway. I did a lot of research on countries and requirements for each of them. A lot of countries had requirements we just didn't even come close to. Examples: married couples must be married for 5 years (we were about to celebrate our 2nd.), married couples must both be 30 years old, one spouse has to be 35, are you getting the picture here? We just didn't fit. Except, Ethiopia.
We had people ask us this during our process, "why not adopt here in the US, they need it too" We absolutely agreed with that statement, it didn't matter to us where our child came from, but we had to consider our emotions. At that time, we just didn't feel led to a US adoption. There is a reality that a birth mother could change her mind at the last minute and decide to parent her baby. We want what is best for any child, but we also knew ourselves. It just didn't seem like we could handle the emotional side of possibly losing a match during that time. I'm going to post more about that part of our story, but it wasn't a quick response to hearing bad news at one Dr. appointment. We had lost something that we weren't expecting and we had been through a lot within that past year.
Choosing an agency wasn't overwhelming to me. Maybe it was because I just wanted to start the process. However, we didn't just choose willy nilly either. A dear friend of mine's sister had adopted recently, so I asked about her agency. When I called the agency, they asked how I heard about them. I told them the child's name, but couldn't remember their last name at the time. They immediately knew who I was talking about. That was HUGE to me. The families weren't just numbers, they are families waiting for their children. I loved that, and it really made an impact on my decision. After talking to Kyle about it, we chose them and began our paperwork.
Personally, I loved having a smaller agency. Ethiopia was a great match for our family, and ultimately brought Zola to us. The country, the culture, the people are all amazing and I'm so thankful God closed so many doors and Ethiopia was our choice.
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