The first: Why Haiti? When we first started seriously considering adopting a few years back, we had started the process to get a daughter from Ethiopia. These plans fell short but it did begin to prepare us for a multi-ethnic family. As we revisited the possibility of adopting we just knew that is what we wanted.
Through Heather's work at Focus on the Family Canada she was introduced to God's Littlest Angels orphanage. After the earthquake in 2010 we found ourselves following the events closely with a growing concern for the people of Haiti and the kids of that country. A year later as we have decided to move forward with adopting (once again), Haiti seemed like the obvious choice for us.
The second: Why direct and not through an adoption agency? The simple answer is cost, to the tune of about $10,000. We knew we would be adopting from God's Littlest Angels (GLA), they were a large part of our growing interest in Haiti and we are impressed with what they have done and are doing there. Direct adoptions are something that GLA does, they have experience with this and know how to navigate through the system to help you.
Bethany Christian Services, a national adoption agency with a local branch here in Bellingham, works exclusively with GLA for Haitian adoptions. They are a well ran respectable organization and we did speak to them about adopting through them. When asked, "why should I use you as opposed to going direct through GLA?" I didn't get a $10,000 answer. They are there to make sure your paperwork is all there, to answer questions, in short, to hold your hand through the process.
Through Heather's work at Focus on the Family Canada she was introduced to God's Littlest Angels orphanage. After the earthquake in 2010 we found ourselves following the events closely with a growing concern for the people of Haiti and the kids of that country. A year later as we have decided to move forward with adopting (once again), Haiti seemed like the obvious choice for us.
The second: Why direct and not through an adoption agency? The simple answer is cost, to the tune of about $10,000. We knew we would be adopting from God's Littlest Angels (GLA), they were a large part of our growing interest in Haiti and we are impressed with what they have done and are doing there. Direct adoptions are something that GLA does, they have experience with this and know how to navigate through the system to help you.
Bethany Christian Services, a national adoption agency with a local branch here in Bellingham, works exclusively with GLA for Haitian adoptions. They are a well ran respectable organization and we did speak to them about adopting through them. When asked, "why should I use you as opposed to going direct through GLA?" I didn't get a $10,000 answer. They are there to make sure your paperwork is all there, to answer questions, in short, to hold your hand through the process.
It will mean more work and more diligence on our part, but Heather is amazing and loves to be organized, or least to organize papers. With the advice of others and a pretty amazing adoption social worker who has been an invaluable resource already, we feel we can pull this off, with a little bit of prayer!
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