Wrap-around Care

We went to a foster care summit in June of this year and it was so helpful to get our minds focused on whether we should continue on the India track or switch to domestic adoption through foster care. One of the topics they covered was wrap-around care for adoptive families. Similar to a missions mindset, each person or family can have a role in the adoption process regardless if they are the ones actually adopting.

 - Some feel called to adopt.

 - Some feel called to support adoption, spiritually and financially. 

We struggled with this initially because we are the ones who are taking this step to adopt a child. It felt very weird for us to then ask people to partner along with us in this process. But if we approach it from the perspective of wrap-around care, we feel like we can welcome people in to walk through this together. Adoption organizations talk about the support systems needed for adoptive and foster care families. The financial piece is is just one part. We can't do this without prayerful support as we go forward.  

 So in saying that, my dear friend Shelli has graciously offered to host an adoption fundraising activity on Saturday, October 8 from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. It's going to be a flag football tournament and a soup cook-off. If you would be interested in more information, please let me know. We'd love to see everyone!

We are completely humbled by the outpouring of love and support we've received this far and appreciate any way someone would like to continue to support us through encouragement, prayers, and/or financially. 

Thank you all!

The adoption timeline

If you know me well, you know I despise bureaucracy. I'm a rule-breaker and everything about bureaucracy is designed for rule-followers. It's a constant battle. 

I learned very quickly that adoption is A. LOT. OF. BUREAUCRACY. So much paperwork. Each agency requests different things, so it's hard to really start gathering what you need until you settle on an agency. 

We started our adoption process in November of last year. We looked at a lot of different agencies, paid fees, and started going through the application process, only to find out that it wasn't the right fit. One agency wanted us to make a 2 minute video (working with their film editor) to help "sell" us to the birth parents. Another made us sign 200 pages of paperwork from all the countries they work with (not just the countries we were considering, but all of them), along with a notary. A notary in Luke's office was a saint to sit with us through that. None of the agencies felt right until we found Children's Home Society. They have been very rigorous and thorough, but also very helpful and organized. Plus their office is close by, so we've been able to just run over to drop off paperwork as we've finished it. 

So, we started with Children's Home Society in March of 2016. It took us the entire month to fill out all the paperwork. Background checks (from 2 states), fingerprinting at the police station, credit checks, financial accounts, references (personal and professional), education experiences, medical histories for all of us (boys included), employment history, the places we've lived since we were 18 and contacts to confirm those residences. I started copying every single thing, just to not have to track it all down again. Through brute force, we finished all the paperwork that month and were waiting for our application to be approved. 

In April, we were accepted into the program.

In May, we had our first day long training with other families who were adopting internationally. We had such a great group! We email each other to check in and see where everyone is in the process, to ask questions, vent, etc. We're thankful for them! 

In June, we paused in the process to think about switching to the foster care to adoption track. 

In July, we had our first home study visit with our social worker. 

In August, we had our final 2 home study visits. She has a month to complete her home study recommendation that gets sent to India along with a dossier of our family. 

She's presenting to the internal Children's Home Society team on Tuesday of this next week, then they move forward with building the dossier. 

Once we get approved by India as potential adoptive parents, we are eligible to be matched. So, we're thinking we'll likely be matched this fall. 

Exciting times! We'll keep you updated as we move along!

Why India?

Why India? We get asked this a lot as we're going through the process. God really laid India on our hearts as a place to adopt, even before we were married. When we were dating, we went to Bethlehem Baptist Church every Sunday. We'd go to the 9 a.m. service (Luke's choice) and then he would volunteer in the book store and I would volunteer in the baby nursery. One of the children in the nursery each week was a little boy from India named Jeremy. I absolutely loved him. Even then, I think God was preparing us to go through this long journey with our focus on India. 

This past winter we paused our adoption process because there was a call for Minnesota families to get involved in the foster care process. There was specifically a critical need for foster care parents for infants. Our neighbor is a supervisor for Hennepin County Child Protection Services and she works tirelessly to care for and protect these children. Many who have been through so much in their young lives, through no fault of their own. We wanted to support her efforts and not feel like we were turning our backs to the children right in front of us.

However, after a lot of meetings and guidance from other foster and adoptive families, we continued on the India track. There were many different reasons, but one of the main ones has been that even if a child is born into really terrible circumstances in the United States, there is hope they can overcome their past. If a child, especially a girl, is born in the slums of Calcutta, there is very little hope that she will be able to rise out of her circumstances.

A 2015 study done by a human rights organization estimates there are 20 million orphans in India. Some even estimate up to 30 million. Up until last year, very few were eligible to be adopted (only 2500 in 2014) and very few were eligible for foreign adoption (only 271). That changed in 2015 when a new minister of women and children development came forward with a belief that every child should have a home. They started modeling their registry after China's Central Registry. They started to get more streamlined with the paperwork and have committed to pushing adoptions through faster. All of these things will hopefully help, but in the meantime, there is such a need for adoptive families. International adoption is costly and time consuming, but hopefully these changes will encourage others to explore the process.

So, here we are. We have so appreciated all the insight and guidance our friends and acquaintances, who have gone through the foster/adoption process, have shared with us as we have sought answers to tough questions. It's a group effort to get through it all!

7,875

Welcome to our blog about the journey to adopt a little girl from India. We're excited to have you come along with us as we navigate the international adoption process. The good, the bad, and the really bureaucratic! 

The name of our blog, 7,875 comes from how many miles it is from Minneapolis to the center of India. It's a long journey, literally and figuratively. We feel the Lord's guidance and peace, as we keep moving forward to our daughter. Welcome!