Better Late Than Never

This post might seem a little out of order (it probably should have been post #1, hence the title) but we felt it was an important subject to discuss. Over the past few months, we have consistently been asked 2 big questions: #1 - why are you adopting rather than trying for a biological child, and #2 - why Ethiopia? Let's try to tackle them one at a time!

#1 - Why are you adopting rather than trying for a biological child?

Because we are a young, healthy couple who have not experienced any struggles with infertility, people are often very surprised (and sometimes confused) by our decision to begin our family with adoption. When we first begin to get these questions, we were honestly a bit taken aback by people's confusion. To us, the decision to adopt has been so natural and felt so right that we hadn't realized it might seem strange to others. We have always just done things our way, and for some reason it often seems to be different than what other people expect (remember the wedding?).

Last year, around January, we started to feel that our family might be ready to expand. We have always felt very drawn to the idea of adoption - after all, there are so many children who need homes and we have so much love to give. But when we seriously began discussions about a child, we put all of our options on the table. What may be different about us than most couples is that neither of us have ever felt an absolute urge or need to have a biological child (I guess neither of us possesses a biological clock!). So we talked and talked and talked (for those of you who know us well, you know that when we make any decisions they are VERY well thought out and probably talked to death). Whenever we seriously thought about a biological child, it always felt like "Well maybe someday, but not right now", whereas whenever we thought about adoption, we felt like "Wow, wouldn't that be special if we were able to do that?" And then we slowly realized, "Wait, we can do that" and then it became "Yes. Our child is out there somewhere in this world, how can we find him or her?" and so it began :-)

#2 - Why Ethiopia?

This question is definitely harder to answer than #1. Whenever we are asked this, our initial response is "It just felt right. We knew that's where our child was". This response often nets us many blank stares and confused expressions from families who have not adopted - whereas other adoptive parents often nod and say "I know what you mean". There is probably no way we can ever "logically" explain what led us to Ethiopia - a lot of it was gut reactions and emotional connections. As we read about different countries that had international adoption programs, we became increasingly intrigued and excited about Ethiopia. The culture is so rich, the history is so deep, and the people are so strong and loving. And the children - so beautiful, so resilient, so full of life! We could honestly go on and on about the respect and admiration we have for Ethiopian people and their culture (if you all want to know more, email us and we'll provide some great references for learning more about the country!).

When we began picturing our child, we both started envisioning a beautiful Ethiopian child. And slowly we began only looking at Ethiopian adoption programs. And then we came upon our agency's website, and everything fell into place. And we just knew. Sorry if this explanation doesn't seem like much of an explanation to you, but it's the best we can do. We honestly just knew.