The Beginning

What agency, which country?  Questions that had me researching for several months.  I attended my first adoption informational session with Children's Hope International in St. Louis.  I was also talking with another agency based on Oregon, both allowed adoptions in Bulgaria and Russia for singles...that was me.  I was torn between the two agencies so I completed the pre-registration for both ( it was free!) and decided whoever had the best news would be the one I would select.  The second agency said they no longer represented Russia but I could still apply to Bulgaria but they may or may not have issues with my past open heart surgery and I would just have to take a leap of faith.  At this point I saw it more as being pushed into a deep black hole of losing alot of money.

A small deviation here.  I had open heart surgery for a surprise heart defect but am fine now, no medications needed, not restrictions on activites or length of life all of which my doctor's report confirms.

Back to your regularly scheduled post.  So I had to decide whether I wanted to spend the several thousand dollars and take the chance they might reject me.  The day I received this news, I received a flyer in the mail for another informational session with Children's Hope, featuring a family that just returned from Russia.  I took that as a sign that I should go with CHI and Russia. so off to the informational session I went.  Yes I believe that God gives us little signs to help us out, but I do not happen to be a person that catches on to them very fast at times :)

I talked to the family in depth and so I signed with CHI and my adventure into Russian adoption began: excited, anxious and hopeful.
~A