I have never had a blog so the thought of beginning one is actually quite unnerving (so bear with me as I learn the ropes). I remember when I first moved to Bogota, Colombia, my Australian friends were used to receiving regular group emails which I guess served the purpose of a blog (without the universal blast) but that was simply to relay my new adventures in a new country.
Seven years after that move I sit in another new country, married to my best friend.
This blog is not designed to simply tell you about my life in another country and when I start using y’all in a sentence (well, that just might make an appearance) but rather it really is a way for Cam and myself to share our road to adoption with you. Even before Cam and I were engaged we both knew that we wanted to adopt at some point so this has been an ongoing conversation and now we are finally able to see it unravel in our lives.
We have recently been accepted with Small World Adoption agency (smallworldadoption.com) to adopt two infants from Lesthoso (Lee-Soo-too – and don’t be afraid to google map it). As you can imagine we are very excited to now be in the process of starting our family.
I am aware that many different people will be reading this and with many different people from all over the world comes many different backgrounds and opinions. We recognize that many have gone before us and there are also many who have an opinion about adoption. I figure that there are a possibly five camps that people fall into when the topic of adoption comes up. Here is my humble attempt to define these:
1. WHhooooo!!!!!!!!!! So, so excited for you guys. I am all in - whatever I can do, I will do!
2. WHhooooo!!!!! Excited for you but you have no idea what you are getting yourselves in to!
3. WHhoo!!! Adopt? Really? That’s (kinda) cool - if you can’t have your own children.
4. Adopt? Really? Why do Christians always have to adopt?
5. Adoption is wrong!
Cam and I have been over and over all of these points wondering if this is the path we should take and while many opinions float about in the online world (Whatever that is) we still remain very excited about adoption and remain firmly grounded that adoption is a good thing (more on that later). Of course we have no idea what we are getting ourselves into and we are fully aware of the bad press adoption has had in the U.S recently but instead of throwing the baby out with the bathwater we are resolved to approach this whole process humbly.
This blog is offered to share our journey with others (who are interested) and also provide a way for others to share in the journey with us. Of course we need help. Many of you know the cost of adopting internationally is massive so this blog will also provide different ways you may want to chip in. I will be periodically updating the Fundraising tab where you will find different ways to contribute toward our adoption fund (Christmas is coming).
Here we stand at the trailhead... ready to put one foot in front of the other.
Thank you so much reading. Stay tuned and thank you for walking the path with us.
Taryn (and Cam)
