Phone Interview

Today I had a one and a half hour phone interview with a lady from MLJ Adoptions in Indianapolis.  It was a very good conversation and I wrote frantically so I wouldn't miss anything she said.  I filled up 5 1/2 pages.

I got tons of good information explaining the step by step process for adopting internationally.

I told her what we were looking for as a family and what all I had encountered along the way.  I asked her for any suggestions about what direction to go.  She said that 3 countries would fit our family:  B, S and C.  As we talked, I told her that B probably wasn't a good fit for us because it takes 3 years to adopt from there.

Then she gave me details on both S and C and told me what we would need to do to get the process rolling. I love the agency and all that they stand for and am confident in their experience.

S is a new program therefore so far no babies have been brought home from there although they are anticipating a 12-16 month process.  MLJ is the only adoption agency working there now.  It would require a short trip to pick up the baby and then a flight to N to finish the paperwork because that is the closest US Embassy.

They have made 84 placements in 2 years in C.  There is great need there because the country is so impoverished.  We could easily get a young child there although from the time they match you with a child and they are a newborn, the process takes several months before you can bring them home.  She thinks the youngest expected child would be about 7-11 months.  AB was so sad about this because she just keeps dreaming of infants.  :)  It only takes 12-14 months to adopt a baby in C.

They have had several sets of twins adopted in C and they even had a staff person adopt 2 boys that were 7 months and 8 months at the same time.  In S, the chances to get 2 babies or twins is probably slimmer because it's a much smaller country with a much smaller orphanage.

At this point we will need to submit an application to MLJ and once approved (2-3 business days) we would connect with a home study agency (D has recommended hers) and get started on our home study and paper work.  We'll need to decide before the approval of MLJ what country we'd like to pursue.

Please pray with us as we weigh each pro and con and see what direction the Lord would have us go!  Thanks.