God brought us a baby girl!

My husband and I are fairly new in the adoption arena and we have a very close friend who lives a few houses down from us that is from the Philliphines and she is married to an American man and they have a beautiful biological daughter.... She and I have grown close and she tells me that the Philliphines is a very poor country and girls and woman are always looking for someone to take their babies and care for them and adopt them... I begged her to ask her sister who still lives in the Philliphines if she could maybe help us since she said that they are always having woman come up to them with their babies!!!!! We spoke on the phone to her sister and then the next day I was having a very, very bad day questioning whether or not God wanted us to adopt and I prayed and I begged and I asked God that if He wanted me to be a mother and to adopt that He had to show me something very specific....in black and white, not just a feeling I may have in my heart but a definite sign from Him above.... The NEXT MORNING, my friend was at our front door telling us a cousin's friend had come to her sister in the Philliphines and was 9 months pregnant and wanted someone to adopt her baby....she told the birthmother that there was an American couple who wanted to adopt from the Philliphines that were good friends with her sister here in the United States and the birthmother was very, very happy and already agreed in writing to relinquish the rights to her baby so her baby could come to America.... The sister let the birthmother stay in her house since her parents didn't want anything to do with her and then she brought the birthmother to the doctor and found that she was already starting labor and in just one short day she delivered a beautiful baby girl.....and because she wanted to help the birthmother and baby and us, she started the process with the birthmother for us!!! We were so overwhelmed with her kindness towards us and the birthmother, we agreed to pay for the birthmother's hospitalization because the birthmother had no money, even though we didn't even know if we could even adopt this baby...we just felt it was the right thing to do since no one had any money to pay for the hospital and for the birthmother to leave and her baby to leave the hospital.... Typically, she would have given birth at home with a mid-wife because people are so poor there, but the sister wanted to take her to the doctor for a check up and they found she was already in labor so they kept her in the hospital.... Both mother and baby are doing well...at this point we didn't even know if the Philliphine law would allow us to adopt because it had just been a mere 48 hours since the first and only conversation we had about adopting from the Philliphines so I thought I had time to investigate it, but God has His own timing and just like how miraculous God is, He brought us a baby even before we were ready with the paperwork... I'm working with an attorney here in Pasco County and an Attorney in the Philliphines who advised me this morning that this private "pre-identified child" adoption is possible as long as we obtain American Homestudy and the normal paperwork.... My attorney here agreed that our case in quite novel and unique and we are QUICKLY trying to now do everything for our Brianna to come home.... The birthmother is still very happy that her daughter will have a better life in America and we are so blessed because my friend's family in the Philliphines have agreed to take care of baby Brianna until the adoption is final....We are so blessed to know that our baby is going to be well taken care of and the Philliphine attorney believes we will be in the Philliphines by the 3rd or 4th week of June to present our pleadings to the court.....right around my birthday and Father's Day!!!!! Then our attorney in the Philliphines has agreed to start the adoption process for us even though we haven't paid him yet because of the time difference and it being the weekend...no overnight mail can be initiated until Monday...He is truly a godsend too!!!! He advised us that by Monday, the birthmother has agreed again to relinquish her parental rights and he can appoint us as Baby Brianna's legal guardians because the father is unknown!!!! Upon presenting ourselves to the courts in the Philliphines, they do not render a decision that day, it can take up to 30 days, but sometimes if they feel good about a case, our attorney told us they will grant the adoptive parents the priviledge of taking the baby home then.... Brianna was born on May 3 and God willing we'll be able to take her home just next month, the end of the month...... We then asked the attorney in the Philliphines about the possibility of adopting 2 children during this same process and he said that was fine, as long as we met the requirements...we could use the same homestudy and everything and both hearings would be the same day...the Philliphines have no problem that they would not even be biological siblings.... So, now we are asking her sister to find Brianna a brother and hopefully we'll be coming home with both Brianna and a brother in June......where our attorney here is overseeing the United States portion as well as making sure this international attorney is thorough and correct.... I did want to mention I tried Jeanne Tate's office, and they advised us they could not help us....I can't quite remember, everything's been such a whirlwind, I think because we found the birthmother....I can't quite remember... But, if anyone would like information about this in more detail as to whom we're using you may email us...please just mention adoption forums in the subject so we know to open the email. I did tell both of our attorneys that if this goes through, we kinda feel as if we're a test case here, but if this goes through which everyone so far feels that legally it can....I told them that I know of alot of women that are already finished with their paperwork just waiting for babies here in Florida...and here the Philliphines has so many....I think the key is to catch the situation before the baby becomes "abandoned" or "orphaned"....as long as the birthmother requests you, then the process is different than for an orphaned child....from what I understand with orphaned children in the Philliphines from what I read on the Embassy website, orphaned children you cannot select the sex and the process is longer and the children are older when they are able to be adopted... But with private adoption, the baby is typically younger, and you know the sex and both parties agree which is incredible....it's just unbelieveable that there are so many babies over there with the birthmothers begging for help and would be so happy to have their children grow up over here....definitely not having to wait 1 or 2 years to adopt a child, just incredible....I'm speechless and in shock over all of this...trying to remain calm and focused and not be too, too excited yet, while still keeping my faith..... Maybe God allowed this to happen to us because He knew we then in turn would do more to help the remaining mothers and babies left over there that are wanting and needing help...maybe this is our mission, I don't know....I could definitely see where it could lead to that...that's how America World Adoption Agency started...one christian couple adopted from China and saw so many other little girls left behind and now AWAA is helping hundreds and hundreds of families..... This week will be a critical week and then we should know exactly yes or no, but so far everything is pointing to yes....which again is so beautiful because I've waited so long to be a mother and here we should know just in time for Mother's Day...... Blessings to all and please keep us in your prayers as we will keep you in ours....and again, please feel free to email us...we would love to help anyone else.... God Bless, Melody and Peter :):):) :)