It almost feels as though our steadfastness was being tested. As if each layer of control was peeled away until all that was left was faith. The outer layer was our perceived time frame; that was peeled away as we found out the process would extend years beyond what we were told. The next layer was finances; we had to put our trust in an agency to decide the fate of our significant program fee. Next was our image of our family; we had begun to really love the idea of our family being partially Colombian and embracing our child's culture. Finally we came to our decision to adopt; as hard as it was we had to acknowledge that our intended outcome may not be God's plan. At the core of all of it, we were able to see that our lives are about so much more than just us and our journey. Maybe it took us really stepping away from ourselves for this journey to be able to continue. Maybe we needed to learn that time, finances and control are not so important. Or maybe this speed bump was meant to draw us even closer together and lean on one another more. Either way, we know it's not the last and we know that patience and faith will get us through it all.
So over the last couple of weeks we have continued to look into all of our options, even though it seemed like so many doors had closed. We researched, called agencies, had conversations. Yesterday, when we called our current agency to check on the status of the board approving our refund, they told us some unexpected news; they were able to get us into their Taiwan young toddler program. Not only is it great that all of our funds will transfer and we will be working with the same agency, but we are really excited about the Taiwan program! Here are the details:
The nursery our agency works with is St. Lucy Center in Tainan, and they have a long standing relationship with our agency. The center was created to serve the social needs of unwed mothers because of the society's prejudice toward these women. The center currently works with education and support for young women, job training and counseling, emergency shelter services, and adoptions. 85-90% of the adoptable children are adopted domestic, the rest is international adoptions. We will be able to tour the facility, talk with our child's caregivers, and possibly meet the birth mother. In Taiwan the process is different from other countries. You first complete your home study and then you are on the waiting list. The agency and nursery works together to match the child with the best family for him or her. Once a family gets a referral (we were told this would be about 1.5-2 years), they begin their dossier preparation. After this, the court process in Taiwan begins. This can take about 4-8 months. During this time, we are able to send our child care packages, skype, and receive updated information. Once we have final decree, we will travel to Taiwan and stay in the country for about a week. Then, the 16+ hour plane ride home!
As always, we will share as more unfolds. While we now very much understand all of the uncertainties that go along with this, but we are also allowing ourselves to get really excited!
Because Taiwan is a small country that doesn't do many adoptions each year, we would love to connect with anyone who has stories to share! If you know of someone who has adopted from Taiwan, was born there or has visited, we would love to hear about it.
Peace,
Lindsey
