AshG

That is beautiful. I have been thinking along these lines lately as I have been getting ready to have lunch with an old friend who's been struggling with infertility for years now. It's hard to put into words just how I see God at work in our own journey thru infertility and adoption--but those words from The Shack come pretty close. Love it! Thanks!!

Brent, you have the right attitude, too! There was a lot of talk previously in this thread about how childless couples are vastly preferred by expectant moms. I guess, statistically, that's true! However, we did already have a two year old when an expectant mom chose us. Shortly after the birth of her/our son, we told her that we had been prepared to wait a very long time to be chosen and she said (rather surprised at this fact!), "I liked knowing that you were already parents and doing a good job!" So, you never know what will be meaningful to a given set of biological parents. It seems like Abrazo attracts the right kind of adoptive families and there are always expectant moms who find just what they're looking for here. So cool to see how God puts people together!

I am really hoping the actual conversation went more like... "you know, infertility can be really hard on a relationship.... it can put your marriage thru the ringer....we are ready to embrace adoption for our family....we hope that our marriage will be stronger as we move forward on this new path...." and then the media decided to frame it as "adopting to save a marriage" i can HOPE, right???? (admitting that i really do love Courtney Cox from the "friends" days...)

Oooooh! A hint!!!! Who can it be?!?

Adding our prayers to the many others being lifted up! May you feel God's presence with you as you grieve --and may many wonderful memories of your Dad give you joy and strength, even in the midst of your sorrow.

Blessings, blessings!

Yes! We are really excited. We are technically "againers"--our first process was just not through Abrazo. I had a feeling there were some againers who were posting on their own threads about Orientation! Can't wait to meet everyone!

There were lots of newbies on this thread within the past month...just wondering if anyone is going to be at May Orientation?

Thanks for the reply, Susan. That's kind of what I had imagined to be the case. I meant to ask another question before....The application's wording led me to think that there is a sort of "acceptance" into their program that's decided after the application is reviewed. Should we expect to hear something more about that soon, even if we aren't invited to the next orientation? I know the orientations invites are based largely on possible cases that are in the works, so we are prepared to wait for that. I guess I'm just wondering if this is an "indefinite wait" or a "yes we can work with you but it might be a few months" kind of wait. Okay, sorry to ramble on here! We're really not in a HUGE rush, but we know we have some things on our end we could take care of (updating homestudy from our first adoption, etc, etc) and it would be nice to figure out some kind of timetable. ps. Heidi--I did read that story about the fire! Thankfully, we used FedEx so that we could track it. That was something we were required to do with our first process. We have our own account!

Nothing's been said on this thread in a while, but maybe someone can answer this question here.... About how long should we expect to wait to hear from Abrazo after sending in our application? The initial inquiry says 2-4 weeks, but there isn't a wait time listed on the application. (Unless I missed it!) Just wondering. I do better when I know just how long I'll be on pins & needles

I am glad to see this kind of news story. Our son came to us through international adoption, and I have been surprised at just how many adoptive families are currently or are making plans to search for birthfamilies. Unfortunately, this is often outrageously expensive and sometimes dangerous (at least for the birthmothers who face shaming by their own families). I know our friends who have begun searches have had to do so with utmost caution--but they (and I)--think it is wonderful that this is even an option. I hope that as technology spreads even in developing countries and as we become more aware of the long-term issues facing international adoptees, the option for "openness" will be something that can be arranged before the fact, not only years after an adoption is completed. Ashleigh

I am SO thrilled to hear of a Memphis gang...we are just an hour west of the bridge in Jonesboro. Memphis is where we go to do major shopping or out-on-the-town playing. That is fantastic news to me since we did our first adoption mostly alone (with the support of a very nice online community, of course!) Well, keep me posted about any get-togethers you have on that side of the river! --Ashleigh

Hi, All--I have been lurking here off & on for a couple of months. (Seems to be theme here, huh?! My husband and I are seriously considering Abrazo for our second adoption and I have enjoyed reading along with the many journeys represented on this forum. We have one son, John Mark, who we adopted from Guatemala. He is now 15 months old and absolutely the light of our lives. He is so loving and adventurous...we can't wait to see him become a big brother! We are hoping to adopt a child of Hispanic descent. Gathering from what I've read, "againers" have to wait a while to get going, and that is okay by us. We are doing some follow-up paperwork for John Mark's adoption and trying to get things in order for a domestic adoption at the same time. Hopefully, things will come together for us to get started with Abrazo early 2008! Even though we have done the adoption thing before, the domestic/open process is new to us. We have lots to learn and we're excited about the journey. Ashleigh, Michael & John Mark in Arkansas (anyone else here from AR???)