The Adoption Journey has Begun!

I thought it was high time that I start blogging again. We have been completely wrapped up in getting the adoption process started and, to be honest, I just needed a little time to analyze and deal with my own feelings before I started to share them again. The adoption blogs will be so different than the infertility blogs. I want to be very respectful of the fact that this journey not only belongs to Brandon and me, but also to our child. There are some feelings about this process that I want to share only with Brandon and our child. I have started to keep a journal for him or her, which contains all of my deepest feelings and sentiments about our adoption journey. So, with this in mind, I envision my blog taking on a bit of a new direction - a little more procedural than emotional.

Last summer I attended an informational meeting at Crossroads Adoption. We had just begun our first month of Clomid, but had already been trying to conceive for a year. In my heart, I think I always knew that this would not be our time for a biological child. As a woman, I believe I just knew. However, since we had just started Clomid, we decided to put our our adoption journey on hold for a bit. I loved Lyla at Crossroads and knew that was the adoption agency for us, should our journey to parenthood take us there. After 6 months of Clomid, 1 1/2 years into trying to conceive, many tears and hot flashes, we took some time off. In December we attended another informational meeting with Lyla and filled out our adoption application. It was accepted shortly before Christmas, which was one of the best Christmas gifts I could have hoped for.

We chose Colombia as the country we hope to adopt from. The process for Colombian adoptions is a little different than with other countries. Not only do we work with Crossroads, but also with FANA (Fundación para la Asistencia de la Niñez Abandonada) which basically translates to the Foundation for the Assistance of Abandoned Children. FANA has a local chapter called Friends of FANA Minnesota. In basic terms, Crossroads takes care of most of our in-country adoption requirements and FANA is our liasion to Colombia. In reality, both Crossroads and FANA are so much more - a support system, a wealth of information, and a source of great comfort when living in limbo. Through Friends of FANA, Minnesota, I have met a wonderful group of other waiting moms, who no doubt will be an amazing support group on our adoption journey.

Our wait will be approximately 2 years. There are many days where that feels like an eternity, and some days where it feels more manageable. In the interim, we are hoping to become very involved with FANA and are doing all the reading we can on Colombia. We even purchased a Colombian cooking book. I have enough coconut rice and rice pudding to feed a small army! I truely hope to be fluent in Spanish by the time we travel to Colombia.

Right now, we have had our first homestudy visit and expect to have our second homestudy appointment in a few weeks. Tomorrow we have our first big Friends of FANA, Minnesota event - FANA's birthday party! I promise to write more frequently from now on... Maybe one of my blogs will even be in Spanish...