07 April 2013

Adopting from Africa


So for those of you who have been wondering what we have been up to, here it is:


We are adopting from 
AFRICA!!!


I was reluctant to announce this until we were sure it was going to happen. So I have been holding back since November when we started this process!!

Adoption is something I have always felt called to, and so when Stan decided he was ready to adopt, we got started! We have been praying, researching and preparing for this since November of last year. We have chosen a country and an adoption agency, and we are almost finished with our Home Study. We will be adopting 1 or 2 children under the age of 3.

I am outlining some FAQs that we are anticipating:

Q: Why adopt now instead of fertility treatments again?
A: Right now, we feel like adoption is the right path for our family. We may pursue pregnancy again in the future, and we may use fertility methods to achieve pregnancy. But right now, we are adopting.

Q: When will your child or children be coming home?
A:  Long story short, it may be about 12 months until we travel and bring our kids home! I am going to post the timeline as a separate blog.

Q: Why international adoption? Why Africa? Why not adopt from the U.S?
A: The country from which we have decided to adopt from has a mortality rate of almost 17% for children younger than 5, which means 1 in 5 or 6 children die before they reach 5 years of age. There are also approximately 5 million orphans in the country, which is equivalent to the entire population of Scotland!

Q: What does Abigail think of this? How are you helping prepare her and Naomi for more siblings?
A: Abigail is very excited about having more siblings! We have shown her several videos of other families bringing home children from Africa and she has asked me when I can go get her a brother or sister. Naomi is young enough still that she will never remember life without her new siblings.

Q: Wouldn’t it be better for the kids to be adopted by people in their own country?
A: There will likely always be more kids in need of a forever family than there are families, all over the world. It would be fabulous if more people in the local African community had the means and ability to adopt. Until there is less war and conflict, more access to clean water, more education and development, the situation in the country we are adopting from will not improve significantly enough to help the orphans and really change their lives or give them a forever family.

There are no unwanted children, there are just unfound families.

Q: Doesn't adopting internationally cost a lot of money?
A: YES!!!
This adoption will cost approximately $35,000-47,500 depending on the number of children and the length of the time it takes to get these children home with us.
Here is the approximate fee breakdown:
Agency fees:                                          $6500
Home Study and Post Placement Visits: $3300
US Immigration:                                     $1200
Travel and Translations:                       $8000
Country fees:                                      $16000
2nd Child's fees:                                 $12500

Q:Where will the money come from?
A: We are trusting God to help us come up with the money for this adoption!!! We have a little bit saved up, and we will be doing some fundraising, and applying for some grants.
I will be posting more about fund raisers and such on my Facebook page and here.

Q: Why aren't you telling us what country you are adopting from?
A: Since this blog is public, we will be keeping some of the details about our adoption private in order to protect our adoption from any one out there who has a negative opinion of international adoption. We don't want anyone to twist any of the information about our adoption into something it is not. We will also not be posting any full photos of our children that would allow them to be identified. We will be happy to share photos with close friends or family.

Lastly, if you have any questions, please feel free to email me: kyrnapuc@gmail.com

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