torn between agencies

Hi nancy, Choosing the agency or country program is definately a decision that each family needs to make based on their own experiences. We decided to adopt from RMI 4 years ago. However, we were offered a child immediately from Russia and switched countries. Then, a year later we were offered a darling daughter from South Korea. So we have been around the world and back to find our children. Our son was in a hospital/orphanage in Siberia for 14 months, he was diagnosed with brain damage (but recovered) and was very small for his age. Depite all of the possibilities of health issues we fell in live with him on sight and knew that he was meant to be our son. While his medical care was not up to American standards he was very well taken care of with the liomited supplies they did have. I would think the RMI would have fairly good medical care so this should not be a concern. I have a friend who adopted from RMI 4 years ago and her son was in perfect health as was the bmom. We chose to go to Hawaii due to the events taking place in the world right now. I feel safer traveling within the UNited States but did not want to travel to a foreign country especially if I had to travel alone for some reason. We are planning to take a trip to RMI when the baby is old enough to enjoy the culture and old enough to remember the trip. Good luck in your decision. I know how tough it can be to make it! Sue :)

Thanks for sharing. I would rather go to Hawaii for the reasons you listed as well, I have three children already also, but its mainly the $$$$$$ and fear of adding to our debt. I want this soooo bad though, that I will regret it if we don't follow through. Nancy:confused:

Believe me I understand the $$$ issue! This is our third adoption in 4 years! We laugh that all 3 of our children are worth more than our house, if only we could refinance them! LOL. This time we had to do some creative fund raising to make the fees. We have had a killer garage sale that made over $1500. We had family and friends donate their stuff. We also put a can up that asked for donations if people did not want to buy anything. This weekend we are having a huge bake sale and a 50/50 drawing. I have also had a charity dinner that helped raise money. So far we have covered travel and the homestudy. It doesn't seem like much but we are talking about $4-5,000 donated through creative ideas. And sometimes it helps to clean closets and sell on Ebay. We did this last time. I was amazed at what people would buy from us! And have a pop bottle drive if your cans and bottles have a deposit on them. You might be shocked at how many people will save them for you. If your heart is set on this then it will happen. It might take extra time to save the money but in the end it is well worth every penny. Sue