One of the first things that people ask when we tell them we’re adopting from Colombia is, “Why Colombia?”
The short answer is: we’re eligible.
When we decided we were ready to start the process of adoption, we didn’t really have a clear direction. We knew we wanted to be a family for a child that needed one; we didn’t really have much preference about where that child came from. We looked into the Texas state foster care system, but decided we weren’t ready for that right now – for whatever reason, it didn’t feel right. And we didn’t necessarily feel drawn to a domestic infant adoption either. So that left international adoption – but from where?
My friend Jamie, who has adopted two children internationally, referred me to an organization that helps people walk through this process and figure it out. They’re called Loving Shepherd Ministries, and they were really helpful. We filled out an online assessment, and they evaluated all the data and then gave us feedback on what they thought our best options were. #1 recommendation: Colombia.
#2 recommendation was Ethiopia, and we considered it. But we simply felt more drawn to Colombia. And it turns out, there are a whole lot of places in the world where we’re simply ineligible, due to age restrictions, net worth minimums, and things like that. And that’s okay. We believe that Colombia is the place God has our next child. And slowly, He will lead us there.
As for the other questions you may have, here are the short answers:
- We have no gender preference.
- We would like the child we adopt to be at least one year younger than M.
- At this time, we really don’t know how long the wait time will be. We’ll know more once our home study is completed and we’re officially “in the pipeline.”
Lots of unknowns. But they are only unknown to us, not to the God who holds all things together.