Once we decided on international adoption using no research, we decided that we should do a little investigation on the process and decisions that needed to be made. This was a red-letter day in my life. Since Charlie and I met, we have both been Internet junkies. The Internet was our sole method of getting news, knowing the weather, getting a movie time, and sometimes even communicating with family and friends. However, it was not until this day, the day we started our research, that I realized just how invaluable and vital the Internet is to our lives.
Using the Internet, we began the process of looking into the different programs available to us. When looking at the countries with available adoptions to the United States, it was important to look at the requirements each country imposed on prospective adoptive parents. There are a multitude of factors that are black and white to those countries. Facts such as age, home state, health, home, and other children/adults residing in the house need to be considered when looking into programs. It was also a realization for us that these requirements came from the other countries and not from the US government. During the research it also became clear to us that if you are an upstanding US citizen who is willing to go through the bureaucratic motions, the US is not picky about your adoption. Their primary concerns are that you do not have any criminal record, that the child you are adopting is eligible for citizenship, and that you can and will be financially responsible for the child.
Charlie and I are in our mid-30s with no criminal record and no health problems. It is just the two of us...we don't even have a pet. You see, I'm a dog person and Charlie is a cat person -- in four years of marriage we have yet to agree on this! Regardless of our dilemma with the pet situation, the other factors made us eligible for a number of programs, so after we narrowed down our eligibility, we decided to choose which culture was most appropriate for our family.
I would like to say that we spent weeks researching each country and figuring out which cultures and ethnicities would be most appropriate for us. But I would be lying. Charlie's travels took him to some fascinating places, but no where more so than Asia - China in particular. We also have many Chinese friends, so our first look was at China. Our first glance at Chinese adoption hooked us...there was no going back. Those healthy, beautiful girls are sitting in institutions, with the luckier girls in foster care, just waiting for a family. Their birthparents were not able to keep them for various socioeconomic, political, or familial reasons, so they abandoned them in the hopes that they would be adopted by a loving family. We watched a couple of videos and we both melted. Our little girl was waiting for us.
China it was.
