It has been a while since I have posted anything but we have been staying pretty busy! Here is a little update on what we have been doing...
We went to get our passports on Friday and should get them in the mail in a few weeks. We have given all our family and friends references out for them to complete for us, we had 8 references total that needed to be completed. We did received our criminal history reports back in the mail and of course we have no criminal history so no big deal, just glad that there were no snags with the paperwork. We ordered six Adoption books that we are required to read while waiting on the adoption, we couldn't find them in the library to borrow so we bought them online at Amazon, two of them were only 1 cent each! Love bargains! :o) We did have a conference call on Thursday for our Adoption and found out that the waiting period has increased now to 18 to 24 months after the Dossier (paperwork) is sent in. So, we will have a long wait! But, it was great to hear that from January to February, 20 families brought home children from Ethiopia! That is so exciting! And, we have been working on getting things ready for this Craft/Bake/Yard sale coming up on April 14th. It is a lot of work trying to balance out doing all this paperwork and also trying to make crafts to raise money.
I finally had one family member respond to a letter I sent out quite a bit ago. They told us we are too young and should enjoy life before children and should also look into American Adoption because it is almost free. We appreciate the feedback, it is better for us to hear SOMETHING then nothing!! We have actually had several people tell us that adopting in the United States will be cheaper. Well, Allan and I had already researched all of that before we made the final decision to adopt from Ethiopia. But, with so many people saying this, we researched it again. I found an adoption agency for North Carolina and the total fees would be around $34,600 if the mom knew who the father was, if not it could cost a lot more. I will try to attach the fee sheet below for all to look over. So, Adopting from Ethiopia is almost the same amount!
I can't seem to get the Fee's for NC Adoption page to upload on here, I'll keep working on it!
About Us!
- Elizabeth and Allan Pack
- We are Elizabeth and Allan Pack and have been married 8 years. In November 2011 we took that leap of faith and applied to adopt a child from Ethiopia. This blog is all about our journey from start to finish. We patiently waited for 5 years to bring our child home and as of April 2016 we felt God was leading us to withdraw from the program and help another family bring home their child.
A lot of people do not realize that in order to get a "cheaper" adoption in the US and to get assistance with it that normally you have to go through foster care until you are placed with a child. I think that could be so heart wrenching to many families who are praying to adopt and then get children to care from only for them to be unavailable for adoption. This process can take years OR like you stated you can pay the really expensive fees. We looked into foster care a little and adoption quite a bit when we were TTCing for 2+years for Ezra. We are still open to the idea eventually depending on where God leads us.
ReplyDeleteI wish you nothing but the best :) And not for a moment do I think you are too young! Matt and I had our first at 20 and now will be blessed with our 3rd this year and we are a little younger than you. Children are not viewed in this country as the blessing that they are no matter how God allows you to get them and that's saddens me.