Posterous theme by Cory Watilo

Filed under: Fatherless Foundation

Another Week of Waiting

It's been an interesting week in my world of waiting.

1.  I saw a travel doctor.  While at the office, I asked the nurse if she saw a lot of adoptive families.  She said that they used to, but there has been a big decline in the past few years.  She attributed this to the economy.  A recent New York Times article describes other factors (a link to this article is pasted at the end of this entry).  I am not sure if this means overall adoptions are down, or just international adoptions.  Either way, there are still many children around the world who are in need of families to raise them.

2.  I received a small grant from the Fatherless Foundation.  This is the second grant I have received.  Between these two grants, and the money my friend Jessica has been lovingly (and determinedly) raising, the next phase of payments will be significantly less.  While on the topic of Jessica, I got to watch her fundraiser grow significantly this past week.  The amount of love aimed at us via her speaks volumes of Jessica.  She is generous and well-loved.  I cannot wait to send Antonia off to the ballet with her in a few years. 

3.  Following notice of the grant, I received another email from my adoption agency.  It seems that the US Embassy is going to take more time investigating adoptions before granting visas.  While this is good overall, hopefully further reducing corrupt adoptions, it means it will take longer for children to enter the US.  Part of me thinks I received the grant to cover additional in-country expenses for my child.  I think the charge is $700.00 for every month in country.  Does this mean I am looking at waiting for several more months?  Aaaaagh.

4.  School has begun again.  Teaching restarted a while ago, now I am now back in class.  A new professor joined our program.  I am not sure how this will play out with my potentially missing a month of class.  My program director and other professor understand my circumstance and are willing to work with me.  The verdict is still out with him though.  As insane as my timing may seem to be, it kind of works for me.  Looking forward to a pay increase in two years makes more sense than ever.  Without the baby, I am not sure I would ever be inspired to leave the classroom because I love teaching so much.

5.  The baby received her first piece of mail.  It is sweet, a Valentine's Day card from my sister's family.  It shows my two little nephews holding hands.  My favorite part though is Antonia's name on the envelope.  And my sister's note to her.

The New York Times article:                                                                      http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/25/world/us-adoptions-from-abroad-decline-shar...

 

Raising Funds

Adoption is expensive.  Some adoptions cost more than others.  There are unexpected increases and fees.  But what do you do? Giving up is not an option. 

I feel like I have not stopped working on gathering money for the past year+.  (But how many of us aren't constantly addressing our finances?)  I worked a second job.  Then a third.  I wrote many grants.  Still, there is a long way to go.  Now I am trying other things.  I have joined Amazon Associates, see posts tagged "books."  I have sent an application to 147 Million Orphans.  They fundraise for orphan care and allow adopting families to raise some money through them.  Friends have created an Indiegogo campaign for me.  It's hard.

Someday soon I hope to be on the other side - raising money for other adopting families.  In the meantime, if you are interested in supporting my adoption:

This is the Indiegogo campaign friends have created for us:

Fatherless Foundation raises money for both orphan care and adoption.  Tax deductable donations can be earmarked for individual adoptions (such as mine), or given generally.  Also, in the (unlikely) case that I raise more money than required to ease our financial stress, I will donate the difference to Fatherless Foundation and CMomA (see separate post).

This post has been difficult to write.  Every step of adoption is a test of pride, humility, and love. 

Again, thank you for reading.