Our Adoption Q & A

So, y’all, I have had one of the most frustrating “technology” weeks of my 7 year blogging career.  My Mac laptop died, and I lost everything on my hard drive.  And we have no internet at home because of the construction of our garage, so I couldn’t use my desktop.  I have basically been technology-paralyzed for a week and had important projects due that I couldn’t get uploaded and shared.   Super.  Frustrating. Week.  I have had to remind myself many times that these are first world problems and things could definitely be worse.  It’s all about perspective.  I keep hearing my mom whisper in my ear, “Count your blessings, Traci!”     

And boy, do I have a ton of blessings to count…especially this little lady!

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She has now been home with us for 10 weeks, and we cannot imagine life without her.  Thank you for your continual prayers her and our whole family as we continue to adjust to this huge life change.  

Many of you have asked me questions about our adoption process, but I have never really shared it specifically in one post, so I thought I would do that today.   So here we go..

How did we get matched with Sania Louise?

Well, in October of 2014, I attended the Allume Conference with my sister, and we stopped by a booth that caught my eye called “Project 143.”   Project 143 is a orphan hosting program for older orphans (ages 8-16) in Eastern Europe, China, and now Africa.   You can chose to host an orphan, kind of like an exchange student, for 5 weeks in the summer or winter.   I talked with two beautiful ladies and heard about their stories and experiences with hosting through P143.  One lady had hosted a young girl who she still has a wonderful relationship with.  And one lady actually adopted the young girl she hosted.  I was so drawn into their conversations and something in my heart began to stir.  I felt a huge tug on my heart to host a child the following summer. 

When I got home from the conference, I shared the idea with Cy, and he was like, “huh?”  :)

We have never talked about doing anything like this before, so he was caught a little off guard and of course, didn’t have the same tug on his heart that I had on mine.  So I laid it in God’s hands and trusted Him to complete it, if it was Him who was doing the “tugging.”  :)

In February of 2016, I was working on my computer and noticed the Project143 business card that I had placed on my bulletin board a few months earlier.  I remember the ladies saying something about P143 listing the children available for summer hosting sometime at the first of the year.  I thought, “I wonder if they’ve posted the children?”   So I visited their website and found out the children had just been listed a few days earlier!  I looked through the list of children and read about each one, not knowing whether we would host a boy or girl, or even any child at all. 

And then this sweet face jumped up on the screen….
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I.  Died.

Something about her drew me in.  Maybe because she reminded me so much of my sister when she was little?

I emailed P143 and asked if this little girl was available to be hosted, and she was.  They said, “Do you want me to put her on hold for 24 hours for you to decide?”  Huh?!  What?!

Cy didn’t even know I was looking at the list!!  He would die if I told him that I had a child “on hold.”  But the sweet lady from P143 said that little girls get chosen quickly, and she could not promise that she would be available too much longer.  So I told her to put that sweet girl on hold (doesn’t that sound funny?!,) and I would get back with her the next day. 

And then I hit my knees.

“Lord, please let Cy want to host this little girl like I want to host this little girl.”

I wasn’t even sure how I was going to bring it up to him.   “Um, sweetie….I saw a little girl from Latvia online today… and I want to host her this summer…. and it um, costs a good bit of money, and um, well….the deposit is due tomorrow.”

Yeah, that was going to go over really well. 

Long story short, Cy and talked about it.  He was surprised and unsure.  We asked P143 for a few more days to decide.  We talked and prayed.  We talked and prayed some more.  

P143 sent us some more detailed information about her and this picture. 

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Let’s just say that when Cy saw the picture of Sania Louise in pigtails, it was a done deal.  

Then things happened super quickly…we paid our deposit and began filling out a ton a paper work.   It was February, and she would be arriving for us to host her in June, and we were freaking out. :)

You can read about our hosting experience HERE, HERE, and  HERE.

When did you decide to adopt Sania Louise?

We decided to pursue adoption of Sania Louise before we hosted her.  Not all orphans are able to be adopted, but she was.  Most people wait to start the adoption paperwork AFTER they host they child, but we were feeling led to start the paperwork before we even met her.  

How long does it take to adopt from Latvia?

Latvia adoptions consist of 3 trips to Latvia and can usually be completed in less than a year.   Don’t quote me on this, but it usually takes 6-8 months for the first trip to Latvia.  You spend 3 to 4 weeks there with the child you are wanting to adopt, and then they come home with you.  You take the second trip to Latvia (only one parent has to go and the child does not) 3-4 months later to finalize the adoption with the Orphan’s Court.  And the 3rd and final trip is about 3 or 4 weeks after that and at least one parent and the child has to return to get passports and visas (I think.)

Where are you in the adoption process?

So here is what our original adoption timeline looked like:

February 2015 – Started the process to host Sania Louise for five weeks that summer.  We also started the adoption paperwork. 

June-July 2015 – Sania Louise stayed with us for five weeks as a host child through P143 and then returned to Latvia. 

December 2015 – We took our first trip to Latvia to bring Sania Louise home.  Our second trip would have been around March or April and our third trip around May 2016.  

However, we did not bring Sania Louise home with us in December, and at that time, our adoption was ended.   You can read a little more about that very difficult time in our lives HERE.

By God’s grace, we were able to start the adoption process again in January 2016, but we were not able to take our “new first trip” until June 2016.    We just got our travel dates for our second trip yesterday, and I will be traveling to Latvia on November 22-24th to finalize the adoption.  Sania Louise will officially be a Hutcherson on November 23rd.   Then we will probably have our third and final trip in December or the first of January 2017.  

Are you confused now?  teehee. :)

So, basically, if we stayed with our original timeline, our adoption process would have been a little over a year (Feb. 2015-May 2016,) but since our adoption ended and restarted, the total timeline was from from February 2015-December 2016ish.

This post is a lot longer than I thought it would be, so I will do another Q & A post next week about what it has been like since she has been home and how she is doing. :)

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Until then, have a blessed day!!  

xoxo

Traci

 

19 Comments

  1. I am the mother of 3 boys and always wanted to adopt a little girl. My “baby” turned 34 last month so this was over 30 years ago. My husband and I were 40 and we were told that we had to take a “special needs” child. We didn’t have a lot of money at the time and I couldn’t do that to my boys. What we lacked in money we made up with love but that didn’t work. I will be 66 tomorrow and I am so sorry we didn’t do it. It is too late now because of my husband’s health issues. I am so glad you adopted this little sweetie and with you all – the entire family – much love and happiness.

  2. Love you sweet Traci, and praying for you and your dear family. I love my “There is always hope” t-shirt. What a powerful message!

  3. Wow! Like 2 rollercoaster rides with the delay. I’m so glad this little one is with you. Looking forward to your continued updates.

  4. Boy I know the upset of stop and start adoptions. When we were in the process of adopting our son we had gotten half through and my husband was transferred to another state. We had to start completely over!!!! It is a roller coaster but the best ride of your life. God bless you all!

  5. Isn’t this something ? God just did it ! It has been really wonderful to pray for you all while this in the big process( I think you know what I mean). Not just praying because you asked, but, rather feeling I was led to pray. Amazing how God has used complete strangers to be. Part of your process. I’m humbled and honoured. Blessings to you all.

  6. Ya know, I love that you fill in the blanks and answer the little questions. I’ve always enjoyed the highlights you share along the way and this is a great “tie it all together”. I kind of look at it and compare, “What was going on in my life around that time?” Wow…. when we give God everything, our hearts and our time…… Thanks for sharing!!!

  7. So very glad that you felt that “tug” on your heart, and that now Sania Louise has a forever home with you and your sweet family. Someday, I hope she comes to understand how much God loves her to have placed her with you, and how much she is loved by your family.

  8. Dear Friend,
    You do not know me, but you have had an unbelievable impact on my life. I am not sure what took me to your blog in June, other than the hand of God. I’d never heard of you or your son or your blog. Anyway, I found myself there, and the blog post that day was about you selling tshirts because you were heading off to pick up your newly adopted little girl that week. Then I clicked your hyperlinked adoption word. Changed. My. Life. Next thing you know, I was on the P143 site. To see the kids, I had to register. So I did. Then I found out that several kids were still available for summer hosting. I had not even talked to my husband about anything (we had talked about me really wanting to adopt or foster, but God had not moved his heart to be open to it in previous conversations). I had not even left my desk. I knew that we could not afford to host this summer, but I resolved to make it a budget item, and to host in 2017. That afternoon, my phone rang. A very sweet volunteer from P143 called to see if I could host for the summer. I told her that I could not, but we kept talking. By the time the conversation ended, I had resolved to talk to my husband and to really pray for provision. Well, let me tell you. God provided. We were able to host an Ukrainian foster child for the summer, and it was awesome. Not perfect. But pretty awesome. Our host child was a JOY. Not perfect, but a normal, active, curious, mischievous boy. He was not available for adoption, but I knew one week into the experience that the Lord was calling us to adopt. So! We are now in the process. Home study is next week. The adoption process is an expensive, tangled maze but we are trusting in God to lead us, and guide us through it all. Our prayer is that we will be able to provide a loving, safe environment for a child or children that have not known much of that in their lives. Adoption is all about brokenness turning into healing. I know it will not be easy, and I really appreciate all adoptive families that are honest about their experiences. It helps to prepare us. Sending you love for all that you did with your blog post.

    1. Oh my! You comment has given me chills up and down my arms! TO GOD BE THE GLORY!!! It has been my prayer through this whole process that maybe just one precious little boy or girl would find a forever family through a reader of one of my blog posts. Thank you, Jesus, for answering this prayer! Of course, I pray for even more children to find their forever family, but just knowing that God is leading you down this path blesses my heart beyond measure! It can be a tangled maze, so I am praying that the Lord would lead you, give you wisdom, and a ton of patience, and I rejoice knowing that He has already chosen your child for you. I lift up that precious child to the Lord and pray that He prepares his/her heart to be loved by your family. God is so good! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SHARING THIS WITH ME!! My heart is so full!

  9. It’s been amazing to see this entire journey unfold for all of you and what a privilege to pray along the way with you!
    It’s fun to watch her and see how much of a Hutcherson she has always been. And to see how well she is adjusting and learning, even on the tough days. Love you lady, and your girl, and your whole pasal of boys too!

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