Top 10 FAQ About Our Adoption

1. Why are you adopting? Can you not have kids? We pursued having biological children for a short time, but after returning from Sudan in October we both felt God calling us to adopt.  We are so thankful for God’s perfect timing and provision!  We’re taking this one step at a time, but we’re open to having biological children and adopting again in the future. 
2. Why from Rwanda? Isaac and I went to Kajo Keji in southern Sudan with e3 Partners back in October to help with church planting and also serving alongside Seed Effect (www.seedeffect.org).  The entire trip was amazing and life changing including the small time we spent at the local orphanage.  We both had such strong feelings during and after our visit to the orphanage in Kajo Keji, but sadly adoption isn’t an option in Sudan.  After returning from Sudan as we continued to think about and pray for the orphans in Sudan.  Slowly but surely, God kept revealing stories, blogs, people, and situations that started opening our hearts to Rwanda.  As we began researching Rwanda are hearts were captured in similar ways to Sudan.  They are both countries which have struggled through civil war and hardship for many years.  In addition, Rwanda is one of the most densely populated countries in Africa with 10 million people and approximately one million orphans and vulnerable children primarily due to poverty. 
3. Are you adopting a boy or girl? We didn’t specify a gender- we’d be happy for either!
4. How old will your baby be? We requested a baby between 3 and 10 months.  Three months is the youngest you can adopt.  We also said we would also be happy to have twins.
5. What’s the process of adoption? It’s a long process!  Now that we’re accepted by America World Adoption Agency we’ll be assigned a family coordinator that helps us with the “paper chase” throughout the adoption process.  We then compile our paperwork for our home study which is part of our dossier. (A dossier is the main adoption packet that is approved by the US government then Rwanda government).  Once we mail in our home study packet then we are assigned a social worker who will come to our house and interview us and some of our friends and neighbors.  Then, we compile (which is estimated to take 3 to 6 months) our full dossier and mail it to Rwanda where we then wait (could be between 1 to 6 months) on a “referral” which includes a picture, medical information, and socio-biographical sketch of the child’s life.  We’re then given the option to accept or reject the referral.  So, that’s the brief summary as we understand it right now.  More details to come…
6. How long does it take? Approximate timeframe is 10 to 15 months. 
7. Will you know anything about the birth parents? Not likely because most of the children are abandoned as a result of poverty.   
8. Will you get a medical report for your child? Yes.  All adopted children are given a full medical examination.  They are tested for HIV, Tuberculosis, Hepatitis and other medical conditions. 
9. Will you travel to Rwanda? Yes, America World does encourage both parents to travel and spend 7 to 10 days in Rwanda.  They didn’t have to twist our arm- we’re super excited to go!
10. Have you thought of any names? We have a few girl and boy names that we’re sitting on.  He/she will have an African name which we may keep as a middle name.