Some good news!

This wait for our daughter has been filled with highs and lows. We never knew that it would take this long, especially once we decided that we were going to adopt a child with a medical condition. We just new that we would have our referral by now. Last spring we received an email for our agency saying that we would likely wait 18 to 20 months or more from the date that we turned in our medical conditions checklist (MCC). Our 10 to 12 month wait had turned into a 18 to 20 month wait. We have been waiting for 15 months now and our agency has been doing a ton of special needs referrals this month. So, I decided to email again to find out if we are getting any closer. For this first time ever, they said that yes, we are getting closer to our referral! I was so scared that they were going to say that we were going to have to wait even longer than 18 to 20 months. They could not predict exactly when it is going to happen, but they said the current wait time is still 18 to 20 months. We could see our daughter's face as early as October!! We are back at work getting her room ready. We ordered her carpet last night and a chandelier this morning. I will post pictures as soon as it all starts to come together. I really want to have her room ready before we get her referral so that we can concentrate on getting ready to travel. It feels so good to finally feel like there is an end in sight. We can hold on for another 3 to 5 months, no problem!! Our prayer is that she is safe and well cared for.

Our agency has been doing a lot of work with the Henan province to help them learn better techniques for childcare in the orphanages. They have been going into the orphanages and helping them with supplies, training, and placing as many kids into foster care as they can. They have also been helping to pay for the process to prepare the children's paperwork for adoption so that these children can have forever homes. Without all of this hard work, these children would have to live out their childhood in orphanages with inadequate care. Our daughter is most likely one of these children in Henan. We are so grateful for the work that our agency is doing.