You may be coming to this blog because of the Christmas card you received from us that piqued your curiosity. If so, hi! I hope you'll continue following this blog as we document our daily lives as well as our newest adventure. If you're a regular reader and/or did not receive a Christmas card, our big news is that we are adopting again!
We have begun the process to adopt from Hong Kong. I'm going to try to answer all the questions we've already been asked, and would be happy to answer any other questions.
Where is Hong Kong?
Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China. So, part of China but the rules are a little different. We don't qualify to adopt from China because we are not 30, but Hong Kong only requires parents to be 25. Hong Kong is beautiful and bustling and is supposed to have some of the best food in the world.
How many kids are you bringing home this time?
Just one this time, unless we find a sibling group that is a good match. The agency we used for Jeb and Journey allowed us to adopt multiple unrelated kids from the special needs program, but we are using a different agency this time that doesn't allow this.
What will your child look like?
Our child will likely be of Chinese heritage, but people from other countries sometimes immigrate to Hong Kong, so some of the children may have a different background.
Hong Kong is a special needs only program. Because Hong Kong is not a very poor country like Ethiopia is, they have a well established domestic adoption program for the healthy children who need families. So, our child will have special needs. We don't know what that means right now, we have a long list of issues that we are open to, ranging from mild to correctable to moderately serious. Keep in mind that we adopted Jeb and Journey as special needs kids and they are both doing great. Special needs in adoption can mean a lot of things :)
When will your child come home?
That's a loaded question in the adoption world. According to our agency, from the time we accept our referral (meaning we have identified the child we hope to adopt) to travel is 8-10 months. Depending on how quickly we get our paperwork gathered and to Hong Kong, and how long it takes for us to find our child, it could be late next year, or any time in 2014.
How old will your child be?
We are saying at this point that we'd like our next child to be younger than Journey. But our hearts are open to whatever child God leads us to, so we may be surprised :)
Boy or girl?
We are open to either. The kids have different opinions every day. Jeb usually says he wants a lot of sisters, but he also wants a boy so he can share a room.
What language will he or she speak?
The official languages of Hong Kong are Cantonese and English.
Why Hong Kong?
Our hearts have been opened to special needs, so that was our first criteria. Hong Kong is a small, but steady program that has been that way for a long time. A part of our hearts are still in Ethiopia, but the program is a little bit unsteady right now. Hong Kong only requires one trip, which is easier on the budget, since our Ethiopian adoption ended up requiring 3 trips. We're also hoping to fall in love with another country the same way that we fell in love with Ethiopia.
Will you take the kids when you travel?
We would LOVE to go as a family, but it will depend on the money. With the adoption tax credit still being iffy, we may have to fund this completely by ourselves, without the tax credit refunding a part of it later. We'll be doing some fundraising and there are some grants we can apply for, and we'll be moving forward on faith!
That's about all I can think of! You're welcome to leave further questions in the comments section of the blog, or email me directly :) We appreciate your prayers as we venture out on another journey to expand our family :)
We have begun the process to adopt from Hong Kong. I'm going to try to answer all the questions we've already been asked, and would be happy to answer any other questions.
Where is Hong Kong?
Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China. So, part of China but the rules are a little different. We don't qualify to adopt from China because we are not 30, but Hong Kong only requires parents to be 25. Hong Kong is beautiful and bustling and is supposed to have some of the best food in the world.
How many kids are you bringing home this time?
Just one this time, unless we find a sibling group that is a good match. The agency we used for Jeb and Journey allowed us to adopt multiple unrelated kids from the special needs program, but we are using a different agency this time that doesn't allow this.
What will your child look like?
Our child will likely be of Chinese heritage, but people from other countries sometimes immigrate to Hong Kong, so some of the children may have a different background.
Hong Kong is a special needs only program. Because Hong Kong is not a very poor country like Ethiopia is, they have a well established domestic adoption program for the healthy children who need families. So, our child will have special needs. We don't know what that means right now, we have a long list of issues that we are open to, ranging from mild to correctable to moderately serious. Keep in mind that we adopted Jeb and Journey as special needs kids and they are both doing great. Special needs in adoption can mean a lot of things :)
When will your child come home?
That's a loaded question in the adoption world. According to our agency, from the time we accept our referral (meaning we have identified the child we hope to adopt) to travel is 8-10 months. Depending on how quickly we get our paperwork gathered and to Hong Kong, and how long it takes for us to find our child, it could be late next year, or any time in 2014.
How old will your child be?
We are saying at this point that we'd like our next child to be younger than Journey. But our hearts are open to whatever child God leads us to, so we may be surprised :)
Boy or girl?
We are open to either. The kids have different opinions every day. Jeb usually says he wants a lot of sisters, but he also wants a boy so he can share a room.
What language will he or she speak?
The official languages of Hong Kong are Cantonese and English.
Why Hong Kong?
Our hearts have been opened to special needs, so that was our first criteria. Hong Kong is a small, but steady program that has been that way for a long time. A part of our hearts are still in Ethiopia, but the program is a little bit unsteady right now. Hong Kong only requires one trip, which is easier on the budget, since our Ethiopian adoption ended up requiring 3 trips. We're also hoping to fall in love with another country the same way that we fell in love with Ethiopia.
Will you take the kids when you travel?
We would LOVE to go as a family, but it will depend on the money. With the adoption tax credit still being iffy, we may have to fund this completely by ourselves, without the tax credit refunding a part of it later. We'll be doing some fundraising and there are some grants we can apply for, and we'll be moving forward on faith!
That's about all I can think of! You're welcome to leave further questions in the comments section of the blog, or email me directly :) We appreciate your prayers as we venture out on another journey to expand our family :)
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