Chances are you know by now that Mike and I are starting a family by way of Ethiopia. We couldn't be more excited, and thank all of you for your kind words and well-wishes! We know we will need your support in the coming months as we start the often-times emotional process of adoption.
So let me fill you in on what brought us to this exciting journey. I've known since I was a child that I was meant to adopt. I was probably eight or nine-years-old, and ever-the-journalist, was watching an episode of Dateline or 20/20, some sort of news program, and the topic was the crisis in China due to the country's one child rule and the terrible state their orphanages were in. My heart broke that night and I knew then that God had called me to adopt.
Luckily, many years down the road, I met a wonderful and incredibly supportive man who we can't say shared my dream, but as I told him how I'd always felt, he was very open to the idea. Now that we've been together for nearly six years, we both feel like this is definitely the next chapter of our story.
So you might be thinking, "didn't she just say China?" Well, I did, and Mike and I definitely put a lot of thought into our choice. We met with a couple of adoption agencies and discussed a LOT of options, including domestic adoption (adopting a child in the U.S.). We were drawn to Ethiopia thanks in large part to friends who recently adopted from there. They had a fantastic blog (I can only hope this one is as informative) that really brought us along on the journey with them. Mike and I have learned that there are 5 million orphans in Ethiopia. One in ten children there die before their first birthday and one in six die before their fifth birthday.
Mike's mom has always told him to "Make a difference." We can't think of a better way to do just that.
It's true adoption is VERY expensive, but we understand that the lengthy, expensive legal process is keeping these children safe and ensuring they go to loving homes and are not "sold" on the black market. We do hope to do some fundraising to help cover some of the costs, we will be sure to keep you posted on that.
As of the second week of August we are officially in the process, have sent in the first of what will be many large checks, and are now starting the home study process. Home study refers to all of the criminal background checks, fingerprinting, references and visits with social workers that are required to adopt.
That means that in 12-14 months, we will be bringing Baby Pillitteri home from Ethiopia! We don't know what gender the baby will be. We were able to choose, but decided to leave that up to fate. Chances are though, we will bring home a baby boy, as the current list of parents waiting for a child are mostly requesting girls. The baby will be between 4 and 8 months old when he/she comes home.
We will have to travel Ethiopia twice and stay in Addis Ababa. The first time will be after we have been matched with a baby. This trip will be roughly seven days. We will meet the baby, and if any of his/her family is alive/around and wants to meet us, we will meet them. We will also travel to the baby's birth village or city so we can see where he/she is from. We will then appear in Ethiopian court to testify that we have met the baby and want to proceed with the adoption. We will then come home, leaving the baby behind (this will be very tough, I am sure, although he/she will be in very good care in the great orphanages our agency works with).
While we are back home, the courts in Ethiopia will be busy finalizing the paperwork that we will need to complete the adoption and get Baby Pillitteri's U.S. Visa, Passport, etc. This process will take two to three months, and then we will get to go back to Ethiopia for a quick three day trip to FINALLY bring our baby home!
We are excited to share this journey with you, and can't wait to bring you more updates. For now, it's back to the paperwork that will get our adoption moving!
