I wasn't sure where to post this but figured this thread is the best bet. Well, as per Elizabeth's advice, I have been sending e-mails to friends and family about us wanting to adopt. I've been searching the internet as well. Well, I got en e-mail from a nun in South Africa about a baby she had for adoption. She's been raising the child since birth (Oct. 2007). The birtmother and father are both deceased. The father died in a plane crash and the mother died from cancer a month after the child was born. The father was from Central Africe and the mother was Belgian. The sister sent me pictures of the mother and son when he was born. The nun has legal custody of the baby and she promised the mother she'd find a good home for the child instead of putting him in an orphanage. She said she had a few families that were interested in adopting but that they couldn't promise to keep in contact with her throughout the child's life on how he is doing. I told her that I had no problem with that because I believe in open adoption. She told me the name of an attorney she is working with who does international adoptions. I researched the law firm and the attorney and they seem to be legit. The sister is being transferred to the Phillipines in a month and needs to find a home for the baby before she leaves. After going back and forth with e-mails, the lawyer has finally contacted me. My husband and I have talked this over at length and want to go forward. So, I want to know if anyone has ever gone through international adoption and if you have any advice on what we should expect so we know if things seem to be going the way they should. I am scared to be doing this without an American agency being involved but this is the way it's happened. My brother is an attorney here in the states and will be helping us but he says that it's kind of difficult because the laws in Africa are so different and he doesn't the law there. Are we getting in over our heads?????