Lifetime Adoption
Many of you know that we have been waiting to do another adoption, actually #4 for us. We had our homestudy completed in March 2012. At that time we did not have the finances to go through an agency etc & had hoped that we would find a baby privately. As always, when we look back we can see that the timing would not have been right last year. However since returning from our vacation we have felt an urgency in getting an adoption underway. We know we are moving to New Zealand & obviously cannot do that until we have completed this next adoption.
SO what to do? How to proceed? This week has been a little stressful as we have looked at various options. My poor hubby was looking a lot older for a few days this week! On Tuesday we applied to Lifetime Adoption which is a Facilitation Center in California. We had used Lifetime when we adopted Daniel so were familiar with their practices etc. We got pre-approved very quickly & had a long phone conversation with them on Wednesday morning. We were a little shocked at the price – gone up a ‘bit’ since Daniel’s 10 years ago. Daniel’s adoption was actually the most expensive due to some complications, costing us quite a few $’s in lawyer’s fees. Of course we have absolutely no regrets but we also have to be realistic. Yes the life of a child is priceless but we also do not believe in going into debt. Our finances are limited. When we sold the pigs we thought that money would go towards purchasing our flights to NZ. Hah! It seems God has other plans!
Back to choosing an agency/facilitator… Yesterday we went to talk with an agency here in Missouri. They were really nice folks but somehow that option just did not seem right to us. What to do? Three options: 1) Forget it altogether 2) Renew our home study which has to be done every year & just leave things as they are OR 3) Take the plunge & go with Lifetime. Options 1&2 did not feel right to either of us so today we made the decision to go with Lifetime. (Richard is now looking alot younger ! LOL!) We called them & left a message as their offices are not open on a weekend for adoptive parents. We will be submitting all our paperwork on Monday. We already have our Profile completed to send them. Will take their advice on any changes before printing off multiple copies but should not take long. Lifetime are great to work with, know their job & work with a lot of birth mothers. They are one of the biggest, if not the biggest, facilitators in the USA. The founder, Mardie Coldwell, is an adoptive mother herself & has authored many books on the subject of adoption.
A facilitator does the job of presenting you to a birth mother. That birth mother then decides who she wants to give her baby/child to. This actually works more like a Private Adoption. Once that baby is born, it is our responsibility to get a lawyer in that state to ensure that the birth mother & birth father, if he is involved, sign the relinquishment papers & the lawyer also has to do all the Interstate Compact along with a lawyer here in MO so that we are then able to bring the baby back into Missouri. Yes it can be complicated but if you choose lawyers that have worked with Interstate adoptions before then they normally know what they are doing.
Our prayer is that we will get matched quickly & easily so that we can proceed with selling the farm & heading to NZ. (We are open to all races, singles, twins & sibling groups up to the age of 3. (We do not want to spoil the balance that is already here by inserting older children in with what we already have.) Once the baby is placed with us, it takes 6mths for finalization in MO. Once that is done the baby will be issued a new birth certificate and once we have that we can then apply for his or hers passport. SO we are going to be in the USA for a while longer. We are feeling excited about this next step although a little daunted at all the money going out. However we know this is what we should be doing so have to trust that God will provide for what we need in the future. HE has a plan 🙂
Liz
How exciting for you. I’ll be praying that the right child becomes available for you.
Thank you 🙂 We are looking to welcoming the new addition when God opens the door 🙂 Liz
We’ll be praying for you!!
Thanks Lind crew 🙂
Liz