News

It's been a few weeks since my last post. A lot has happened. We decided on S. Korea!! It really wasn't a hard decision for Roger. He didn't want to travel...lol! He may change his mind, though, you never know:)
We settled on an agency, and called to schedule a meeting. But then my ADD impatience set in, and I asked if we could submit our application before the meeting. You see, the approved application was all we needed to be added to their waiting list. So, long story shorter....we were officially accepted into the program on April 6th...yay!! We are now on the waiting list for a baby girl...I can't believe it! I have to keep reminding myself that the hard work is yet to come. Our agency rep suggested that we wait for 6-8 months before we start our home study and paperwork. She said the wait for a baby girl right now is 15-18 months, and she didn't want our paperwork to expire (most of it only lasts one year) before we are matched with our daughter.
But....I have heard from other families who are using this agency that we should go ahead with the home study, and just take it s-l-o-w-l-y, so that it isn't complete til the end of the year.

So, this is where we are now. On the list, waiting to start our home study in a few months. Excited and ready for our daughter:) She can't come soon enough!

**Oh, almost forgot: Roger opened up a savings account yesterday! And he looked into refinancing our home next year to pay the final (big) fee. He said we were approved! Yay!

We're Down To 2!

After a few weeks of research, discussion, phone calls and emails, we have decided to go the international adoption route. We have narrowed it down to 2 countries: Taiwan and Korea.
Each country has its pros and cons. Here are a few:

Taiwan--my first choice when I started my research.
++Kids are very healthy, and are adorable!
Travel to country is only 3-5 days, which saves $ on travel. Did I mention the kids are adorable?
--The cost is higher than that of Korea. The wait for a healthy girl is a minimum of 2 years. The wait for a girl with mild/moderate special needs or a girl over 5yrs is at least a year.


S. Korea--one of the last countries that I even considered.
++Kids are younger at referral than Taiwan program kids. The escort option means that I (major fear of heights/flying over here!) won't have to get on a {gulp} plane. Cost is one of the lowest of all countries. Wait time is 12-18 months currently.
--Korean families get first pick before US citizens, and most Korean families pick healthy girls, i.e. the girls 'left' for US citizens usually have some sort of mild issue/need. Most US families are open to gender, and since we aren't, our wait time is longer.

So, there you have it. Taiwan or Korea? Korea or Taiwan? That is the question of the day..........