Our story in a nutshell

Hi Everyone,

My name is Daphne, and I'm married to a great man named Chris. We've been married for close to seven years and live in a sweet little community near Nashville, TN. I've started this blog for several reasons, all related to our upcoming adoption. I want my family and friends to keep up with us while we go through the adoption, especially when we're out of the country. Also, I've gotten so much support and hope by reading other parents' adoption blogs that I hope I can do the same for other hopeful parents out there. So, here is our story so far.

In August, 2007, we made the decision to adopt a child. We signed up with an agency to facilitate the adoption of a baby girl in Vietnam. In February 2008 our dossier was in Vietnam, and rumors of Vietnam ending adoptions with the US were swirling. By June, the writing was on the wall and our agency advised us to make another decision. We were in the bottom twenties on the list of waiting parents at the agency and they did not expect to receive any more referrals. Our hearts were broken, and our agency did not have any other programs that were a good fit for us. After nearly a year in the international adoption process, we were right back where we started, only a bit poorer.

We began our search for a new agency and new program to join. We looked into quite a few and even applied for one before quickly changing our minds (a good thing since there have been recent reports of problems with this country). Eventually, we read up on Nepal and how they had announced plans to re-open to foreign adoptions soon. We found an agency with a good reputation and who had worked in Nepal before, and signed up.

Since then, we've updated our homestudy, changed our I-171, and re-done our dossier. Then, we waited for Nepal to officially re-open. As much as I wanted to start an adoption blog, I decided to wait until Nepal was officially open. Then, it would seem much more real. So, I'm happy to say that Nepal has announced that it will begin accepting applications for adoption. Our dossier is ready and, hopefully, will soon be sitting at the ministry in Kathmandu.

We have no idea when we can expect to hear something, but hopefully it will be soon. While we originally were hoping to adopt a girl, we have since changed our minds and are requesting a child of either gender. We didn't know when we selected a girl how lopsided requests for girls were. We just thought it would be nice to have a girl because she could play with our niece. Since this is our first child, gender isn't really that important. Plus, we now have a nephew, too.