Latest News (July, 2007)

I just heard today that the new batch of referrals is through November 14, 2005. We are half way through November now. Our wait for Rachel has grown to 18 months. When we started our adoption process, our agency, Living Hope Adoption Agency, told us that the wait time is ranging from 6 to 8 months from LID (date you are logged into China's system). We are 10 months beyond that and we still aren't expecting to hear anything for at least another 6 months or so. I've pretty much stopped speculating at this point, because the wait just grows longer each month.

I guess I'm getting to the point now that I think it may not happen for us. We've been trying to grow our family for 7 1/2 years now and for some reason, something is fighting against us to grow our family. Don't get me wrong, we have the greatest son out there! Jake has been the greatest blessing in our lives and without him, the wait would be too painful to endure. He fills our days with laughter, activity, mischief, love, etc, but God blessing us with parenthood has just increased our desire to want more children. We are still trying to figure out why growing our family has been so difficult.

We have been through years of fertility treatment followed by invitro-fertlilization with an egg donor. I'm not sure why God had us go through such heartache and pain because our lives were truly an emotional roller coaster for 5 years. The only thing I have come up with is that mine and Dave's relationship has grown stronger and has made us appreciate what we do have in our lives...Jake.

Some people know they want to adopt, but adoption is something we've never really considered until failed fertility treatment. I remember mentioning it to Dave and he just was not interested in pursuing the avenue of adoption. He was content with Jake at the moment and could live with the fact that we would only have one child. I don't know if having 4 siblings influenced my desire of wanting to give Jake a brother or sister, or if it's the wonderful blessing of being a parent, but I knew that I wasn't content with just one child. I love being a mother and knew that I wanted to do it again. I'm amazed at how many people ask why we are trying so hard. People have said "you should be happy and lucky you have one!" Most of the time this comment comes from those who have more than one child and I in turn ask why they had a second, third, or fourth child. I know people say things to make you feel better and because they don't know what else to say, but it DRIVES ME CRAZY!

Our decision to adopt came after attending a conference with Resolve which is a non-profit organization for people experiencing infertility. It's a great support organization and offers a tremendous amount of educational information on infertility, treatment, adoption, etc. We attended this conference in September, 2004and all the sessions we participated in were based on adoption, both domestic and international. It was great hearing stories of those experiencing the same issues as us and their decisions to become parents or have "resolved" themselves to not pursuing parenthood. Fertility treatment and adoption is not for everyone, and I have a great deal of respect for those who have been through it or those who know that they just can't go through this emotional roller coaster and accept their decision to move through life not being parents. Honestly, this process is hard and it is definitely not for everyone because it can totally consume your life if you let it. And it can put a strain on your marriage too!

Anyway, we soaked in as much as we could at the conference and heard stories of those who pursued avenue of adoption, and something just touched my heart about China. Domestic was too risky for us with all the differing laws from state to state and the rights that the birth mothers/parents have. When we left the conference, I was bursting with excitement inside, but I was too afraid to say anything to Dave right away, because I wasn't sure how he was feeling after all that we had learned that day. Talk about "information overload!" After leaving and getting into our cars, Dave said that if we were to adopt, he would want to do from China. My heart jumped with joy from that statement and now the journey continues!