more adoption

since i've entered the adoption world all of about 3 days ago, I've heard a lot of - "you do a lot of research, a lot of investigating and then you go with what feels right". i was a bit aprehensive about this because nothing really felt right and how could you spend thousands upon thousands of dollars for something that didn't feel right? and on the flip side whats so important about a feeling anyway? i got another agencies packet in the mail today - the one that had the minority program. they sent all of their information and i flipped through it and lo and behold something feels right!!! liberia. i never really thought i'd want to adopt internationally. But: Liberia has had a really long civil war that was officially resolved a couple years ago. but not everyone seems to have heard that announcement and there is still a lot of conflict and strife and unrest and just horribleness. a lot of parents are either dying or hoping to give their kids a better life by placing them up for adoption. i want to adopt kids from liberia! yep - did you notice that plural? i feel rather strongly about a sibling group. all of my concerns seem to not even come into play with this idea (that's probably because i haven't had enough time to come up with new concerns - but still.) in this case, ellen and isaiah do not need to be the oldest. it's just a different ball game. they don't recommend you travel to pick up the kid(s) because its unsafe. the agency brings them to you. that's interesting because i wasn't sure how to work out any travel arrangements - ellen and isaiah and other kids on a plane for countless hours...me on a plane for countless hours...leaving ellen and isaiah at home...don't think i could stomach that. etc. typically you are matched with a kid very quickly. but then it takes 6-10 months to get all the paperwork finalized and everything ready to go. this is good because i think isaiah should be a bit older before we add to the group. typically i would worry about this waiting period and what kind of psychological stuff is going on with the kids during that time. But they have excellent (so they write) small orphanages that sound really good. I'm happy that they're concerned about that too. and get this - the icing on the cake - there are some grant programs for some of the fees - and it's the cheapest program i've seen so far! holy moly.