Adoption FAQ
We have been blown away by the support shown to us by all of you. Thank you so much for being excited for us and praying for us. This is a strange journey to us with a lot of unfamiliar territory and a lot of uncertainty that lies ahead, and we are humbled and thrilled to find ourselves here.
We have been asked A LOT of questions! Most of which we don’t know definite answers to…but i figured this might be a way to answer some of them all at once. Also, I happen to really like Q & A forms. Is that weird? Yes, yes it is. But it makes me pretty darn awesome at filling out the endless amounts of adoption paper work. So, here goes:
Q: I know you didn’t specify a gender, but are you secretly hoping for a boy or a girl?
A: Well, no, I’m not secretly hoping for one or the other. However, our chances for a boy are much greater since we didn’t specify a gender. From what we’ve read, up to 70% of adoptive families adopting from Africa request a girl. We’ll be thrilled either way. I mean it.
Q: Is Elijah so excited to be a big brother?
A: The short answer to that is yes. The long answer is that he doesn’t know we’re adopting yet, but since most of his friend’s have siblings, naturally, he wants one too and has mentioned it several times. He also knows what adoption is and we pray frequently in our house for the world’s orphaned children. There is so much we don’t know yet as far as who his sibling will be, when we’ll be bringing them home, etc. We will tell him when the time is right.
Q: Are you adopting because you went to Africa?
A: That is a strange question, albeit a fair one. Of course, God used that trip even in ways that I’m sure we are unaware of. However, our decision to adopt was made long before I went to Uganda. The fact that we’re adopting from Uganda—yes, that has a lot to do with my trip.
Q. Are you going to re-name your child? If so, what will you name him/her?
A: It depends on a lot of things—what the name is, what the meaning of it is, how old they are. Keeping our child’s cultural identity is important to us, so if possible, we will keep their given name in some capacity.
Q: When will you get your referral and find out who your child is?
A: Now that our home study is complete, it could be any time—it could be next week, it could be this time next year.
Q: Are you going to do any fundraisers?
A: We’re planning to do some after the new year if need be. Not sure what that will look like yet. So far, God has provided and we have faith that He’ll continue to do so.
Q: Will you have to travel to Uganda? If so, how long?
A: Yes, we’ll be going to Uganda. For now, it looks like it will be one extended trip—anywhere from 4-8 weeks. Yes, we are aware that is a really, really long time. Each country is different and each agency is different, and this is just what it looks like for us. No one said this would be easy or convenient. And yep, unless that timeframe drastically changes, we’re planning on taking Elijah.
Q: When did you first decide you wanted to adopt?
A: I remember learning that orphans existed when I was in elementary school. I think maybe then. By 9th grade, I was proclaiming my calling to adopt. But seriously, we have always had conversations in our marriage about it and we began to intentionally pray about it a couple years ago.
Q: How are you feeling?
A: Overwhelmed, happy, excited, terrified, humbled, broken, restored, blessed, thankful. And strangely, I miss someone I’ve never met.
