A New Road

It's time to re-activate the blog. My graduate studies are done. I graduated in May with a Th.M. in Hebrew Bible from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. I am still working on how to put my new knowledge and degree to use through writing Bible studies and preaching helps. But something else has begun to fill my field of vision. As folks have asked me how I'm going to use "all of my free time" now that school is done, I have made some non-committal answers, all the while knowing very well that this "free time" is going to be more than filled. Because I'm becoming a mom through adoption.

A future post will talk a bit more about how I came to the decision to adopt and the process I've been through over the last 12 months of gathering forms, clearances, references, and learning more about the job of a notary than the notaries themselves seem to know. But for now, let me answer the questions that most people ask. An FAQ of Jennie's adoption, if you will.

I am adopting a child from Haiti. I am a year into the process. My dossier (the packet of documents needed for the adoption) went to Haiti in mid-April and just recently entered the central authority for adoption in Haiti, IBESR (Institut du Bien-Etre Social et de Recherches). According to my adoption agency, parents are typically matched with their children within a few months of entering IBESR. So, I am waiting. Patiently.

Many folks have asked me why I have chosen to adopt from Haiti. It's a good question and one that comes with many different answers. First, I chose international adoption for a variety of reasons. Once I decided to adopt internationally, I learned that Haiti's adoption laws are very welcoming to single parents, as well as older parents. The orphanage (called a "creche") associated with my adoption agency has a very positive reputation for nurturing care of the children, as well as ethical adoptions. They clearly state that their mission is to find families for children, not to find children for families. And there are lots of children who need families. We have a good friend of the family who has adopted four children from Haiti and had very positive experiences. I have connections to Haiti through a variety of friends and two families in the congregation. Finally, when it came down to it, when I began to imagine myself as a parent, the child I imagined was born in Haiti.

Some time in the next few months I will have my match from the creche and from IBESR. Once that happens, I will go down to Haiti for the initial two week "bonding visit." I will stay at the creche getting to know my child, as well as my child's first home. Following that visit there is a delay of about nine months to take care of the steps necessary to complete the adoption. Why so long? There is a lot to be done. The child's orphan status must be confirmed and other legal steps need to be taken. Courts are slow all around the world. During that time I will receive regular updates on my child from the creche and am even able to make visits, as I understand. Once all of the legalities are complete, I will return to Haiti to bring my child home. Then the real fun begins!

Because I don't have a match yet, I don't know anything about my child. I know that I am approved for a child who is age 0-3. I've been told to expect that the child will be about 3 when she comes home. I have requested a girl. I have also made myself open to the possibility of biological siblings. My prayer every single day is that God will place in my home the child(ren) that God wants me to parent. I trust that this will be the case.

I welcome your prayers for me, for my child, and for my extended family as we go through this somewhat strange, but sacred, process. I welcome your questions. I welcome your parenting wisdom. I welcome your companionship as I begin to walk this very new road. Sometime soon, I will begin walking this road with a child. And I continue to know that always, always, God is meeting us along the way.