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jallwein

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Posts posted by jallwein

  2. Cancer Survivors Welcome Here!

    in Looking to Adopt

    Posted

    Rebecca -- hugs to you! God gives us what we can handle, and often it seems so difficult and doesn't make sense. Keep your faith in him, and he will gradually show you the path he has chosen. It's so difficult going through the infertility while it seems that everyone else is getting pregnant, and now with your friends adopting and having children. We'll keep you in our prayers, and are so glad that you trust all of us in forum land that you are able to share your feelings.

    Prayers to you!

  13. INQUIRY

    in Looking to Adopt

    Posted

    Welcome Jenny! When we started the adoption process, we were not very educated about open adoption. We found the forum to be absolutely wonderful and a wealth of information! The forum is also a great support system for those who participate, as I am sure that you can tell from following the forum! The Abrazo ladies are really great -- we learned a lot at orientation, and their are truly dedicated to finding the right match for the child, birthmother, and adoptive parents. Lastly, I find peace in knowing that all of the AP's have similar stories about infertility and that we all share a common goal of embracing a child and birthmother into our families.

    We hope that you consider Abrazo and send in your inquiry!

    Hello!

    My name is Jenny. My husband and I are in Michigan and discovering all about the wonderful world of adoption. We have experienced infertility and don't have any children yet. I have been following this forum for a while now and thought I'd post and introduce myself. We are interested in finding out a lot more about open adoption. We haven't even sent our inquiry in yet, but I wanted to say hello. I'm learning a lot from you all!

    Happy Weekend! :P

    J

  14. International Adopters: Looking for a Shortcut?

    in Looking to Adopt

    Posted

    Excellent points Patti. Jeremy and I originally started the process to adopt through China because of the closed adoption. The reason is because we were truly uneducated about open adoption, and the many benefits to pursuing an open adoption. One of the largest resources to learning more about open adoption was through the Abrazo forum! The stories that were shared regarding real life situations were truly heartwarming, and it's really enlightening to know that open adoption positively affects all involved (BP's, AP's, and most importantly the child!). We were truly blessed to "stumble upon" Abrazo, and are excited to begin our journey!

    Wanted to share something related to this that happened to me just this week. When speaking with a family member who told me she wanted to get the name of the agency we were working with in Texas -- don't worry Elizabeth I had told her prior, she just couldn't remember the name as catchy as Abrazo is....so, the reason she wanted it was that she was at a dinner with a woman who shared that her daughter had been waiting for a child from China for many years without anything happening, and now was going to look at agencies in Texas.

    I immediately shared that I could send her the website and name of the agency but she needed to be committed to an open adoption....if she was doing international to avoid openness this was not going to work ....I went on to reinforce that only those who embrace openness would be even considered as that is what is best for the child and they needed to give that very serious thought.

    The calls I am sure will keep pouring into your office I am sure -- hopefully amongst them you can find some new AP couples who maybe were a bit nervous about it all and uneducated or maybe just haven't found you yet. We have some very good friends who have an open adoption with their first child, and they just adopted from Guatemela after waiting for 5 years for another domestic open adoption with no luck they were told was primarily due to not being a childless couple (we all know there are no guarantees and there could have been lots of other reasons). They weren't as lucky as we were to find you. So I will do all I can to educate others about openness and only refer those to Abrazo that are committed to it.

    Thanks for ALL you do at Abrazo for the children, the birthfamilies and for us as adoptive families....

    Patti

  15. NEW PARENTS NEEDED!

    in Looking to Adopt

    Posted

    So glad that we are in Texas and are attending the March orientation! We are SOOOO excited for the orientation and to be considered as adoptive parents!

    WE NEED CHILDLESS TEXAS COUPLES!

    Actually, we need childless couples from all over, but especially, it seems, from Texas.

    One new prospective birthmom who came in today to look over our profiles was very disappointed to learn that we have no more than 3 childless couples from Texas currently waiting to adopt.

    While we assured her that Abrazo has great parents-in-waiting from all over, she was adamant about wanting her baby to grow up in the Lone Star State. She saw this as assurance that her open adoption would truly be open, if her child could grow up in a home close enough to allow for periodic visits.

    If you (or someone you know) is longing to become a first-time parent, has documented infertility and is ready to learn about open adoptions done the Abrazo way, please, tell them to get an inquiry form downloaded from our website and sent in to us, pronto! in hopes that we can follow that with a completed application in time to get them into our upcoming orientation weekend in March!

    Who knows? It could just mean that some lucky Texans might then get ready in time to take home the baby of their dreams by summer... or fall... or winter...!? (Not if-- but when!)

  16. The Welcome Wagon!

    in Looking to Adopt

    Posted

    Thanks Heather! We are hoping to attend the March 2008 orientation! Congratulations on your new baby! 3 months we see! How long was your wait?

    Jeremy and Jessica, Congratulations on getting your application in! Maybe you will make it to the next orientation!

    Heather :D

  17. The Welcome Wagon!

    in Looking to Adopt

    Posted

    Thanks Robin. This is Jessica -- we received the application on Wednesday, and I am mailing it today! We are so excited to begin the process. Thanks to everyone for all of the warm welcomes! We look forward to getting to know you all through the chats, and perhaps some day in person!

    Good luck to you in getting that application done ASAP!

    The sooner all the paperwork is done, the sooner you're on your way to being parents!

    Robin

  19. The Welcome Wagon!

    in Looking to Adopt

    Posted

    Ah...Gettysburg. I've been there so many times I can see it in my sleep! My wife's family is from the Hanover/Spring Grove area and we spent many day trips at Gettysburg. Although we miss PA, the winter weather here in Texas is much better and makes up for it. Talk to me in the humid summer and I may not say the same thing.

    Hello! Welcome!

    Why don't you tell you your name?

    My husband and I live in Gettysburg, so we're right by Harrisburg. Sorry you're not nearby anymore :(

    Best, Kay

  21. The Welcome Wagon!

    in Looking to Adopt

    Posted

    My wife and I wanted to say hello (from the Houston area) and share our story with you all. We've been married since 2003, with our 5 years coming up in July. Boy does time fly! Since the day we married each other, we wanted to start a family of our own. We tried on our own for two years, with no success and then decided to start treatments with a fertility specialist. My wife has a bad history of cysts and abnormalities with her ovaries. She's had two laproscopic surgeries in the past 3 years and she still has problems. Anyway, much like a majority of the people on here, we spent thousands of dollars with no results and it got to the point where we would be spending a ton of money on bigger treatments, all of which our insurance would not cover. We lived in PA at that time and there is no state regulation to cover infertility procedures. A few months ago, my wife was offered a huge promotion with her job and we moved from the Harrisburg/Hershey area all the way down here to the Houston area. About a year ago, we started the internation adoption process through China. We filled out all of our paperwork, only to find that we would have to wait until January 30th (my wife's 30th b-day) to send our information. We started to find out little things like this (income requirements, marriage requirements, height/weight requirements, etc, etc, etc.)while researching international adoption. Well, we still decided that we could endure the 2 year wait period until we adopted a child. We've waited almost 5 years already...what's two more??? A few months ago, our social worker with the agency had told us to expect the wait time to significantly increase and it would be another 3 years until we would have a child. More heartache. Now to the good part! The woman who completed our home study here in Texas had suggested that we should look into domestic adoption. Keep in mind that we had attended domestic adoption seminars with an agency back in PA and we were kind of turned off by the state regulations and the red tape that one would have to go through in PA. So we did some research and kind of stumbled across Abrazo's website. I was immediately taken back by the whole vision of Abrazo...families adopting newborns, while still keeping contact with birthmothers and celebrating with people they went to "orientation weekend" with. There is a certain heart-warming feeling you get when you read the stories on here and read the articles about individuals making strides to promote open adoptions. But to make a long intro short, we submitted our initial "I want to hear more" application and hope to be one the many blessed couples that have experienced adoption through Abrazo! Suggestions on a 30th b-day gift would be appreciated!

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