So I spent the morning chasing around the adoption trail… turns out there isn’t a 3 month old baby girl ANYWHERE!!! The ones born in November are already fostered out to adoptive parents. We even went to a different orphanage on this side of town that had reported having a baby girl, but they also turned out to be 7 months old and 1 year old. So that sucks.
Basically we can have our social worker send our paperwork to New Life Homes – which is when they can be open about the status, gender, and ages of the children they have (although the youngest girl they have is 7 months old). Then basically we wait for baby girls to be brought in, and grow up to 3 months in age. I am hoping they have one that is maybe 4 or 6 weeks old, but from what the social worker said – they don’t.
At least our application is officially DONE, and the letter of approval is being signed today, and sent off to New Life… so we are officially in-line! Who would have thunk it, huh??? 2 million orphans, and not one 3 month old healthy baby girl. UGH!!!
I KNOW it is all in God’s time, and when the right daughter for our family comes along, it will work out perfectly… but still so frustrating to be so close, and yet still have nothing tangible. Sigh…
Showing posts with label New Life Home. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Life Home. Show all posts
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
Baby Options
The minimum age for adoption in Kenya is 6 weeks, but the orphanage we have selected has a strict rule of the minimum age being 3 months old. Their reasoning behind it is half medical, half legal… The medical part is obvious – the health and developmental ability of the children can be assessed quite well by three months of age. The legal part I am a bit more confused about… the social worker at New Life Home Trust explained it to me (twice – shh!), but I didn’t have the courage to keep questioning her until I understood it completely. The jist of it that there is a six week period where the parents can come back and claim the child, or something like that. Or it’s a form that takes 6 weeks to process in the courts? I don’t exactly know – but something like that. Basically New Life Home Trust waits until the health of the child is confirmed, and the legal status of the child is confirmed. Thus the minimum age of 3 months to adopt. (heavy sigh.)
Anyway – they have two baby girls that are around “the right age” to be adopted. One was born on November 4th, and the other on November 26th. Apparently one of my Aunts was born on November 4th!! …she had breast cancer, and passed on a couple years ago. So that is pretty cool… NOT that my Aunt passed on, of course, but that there is a baby waiting to be adopted that was born on her birthday. ;-)
Our other option is to see if any baby girls are available at New Life Home Trust’s orphanage in Mombasa. If there is, we can fly out there and meet them/her, and adopt from there.
Or we can wait until another baby girl becomes 3 months old… I’m not sure how many younger baby girls they have though.
Technically we can also switch orphanages and choose a 6 week old baby girl from somewhere else. I really don’t want to do that, as New Life is the “best” orphanage in Kenya, and I obviously want our daughter to have received the absolute best care and medical attention before we can provide for her ourselves.
Now waiting to be approved is absolute AGONY… I don’t know what else I can paint, remodel, or build, to keep me occupied until we are, but I most certainly will have to keep myself swamped with projects – just to keep my sanity!!
Anyway – they have two baby girls that are around “the right age” to be adopted. One was born on November 4th, and the other on November 26th. Apparently one of my Aunts was born on November 4th!! …she had breast cancer, and passed on a couple years ago. So that is pretty cool… NOT that my Aunt passed on, of course, but that there is a baby waiting to be adopted that was born on her birthday. ;-)
Our other option is to see if any baby girls are available at New Life Home Trust’s orphanage in Mombasa. If there is, we can fly out there and meet them/her, and adopt from there.
Or we can wait until another baby girl becomes 3 months old… I’m not sure how many younger baby girls they have though.
Technically we can also switch orphanages and choose a 6 week old baby girl from somewhere else. I really don’t want to do that, as New Life is the “best” orphanage in Kenya, and I obviously want our daughter to have received the absolute best care and medical attention before we can provide for her ourselves.
Now waiting to be approved is absolute AGONY… I don’t know what else I can paint, remodel, or build, to keep me occupied until we are, but I most certainly will have to keep myself swamped with projects – just to keep my sanity!!
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Sigh...
So I got another call from New Life Home… they wanted us to come over on Tuesday afternoon at 3:00 to select our daughter! How freakin’ HEARTBREAKING to have to DECLINE. I explained that we have an upcoming trip abroad, and have to wait until we come back to select our daughter – so we don’t have to leave her behind. It just sucked. I felt like SUCH a looser. I still do. I dunno. It’s just depressing to be the one responsible for the hold-up…
I’ll babble more when my mood improves… no point whining all over the place!!
I’ll babble more when my mood improves… no point whining all over the place!!
Friday, August 24, 2007
Breaking News...
Kush was home from work “early” today (before 6pm, at least!) so we ate some food with Meer, and then as we were getting ready to take Meer out for one last spin in his car, Kush got a phone call and went into the living room to take it. Meer and I carried on our way out the door. Kush caught up with us within a minute, and had two cereal bars in his hands. He hands me a bar, and tells me to open it – he had good news!
So we both open our bars, and began walking and pushing Meer in his car…
Kush was like, “We’ve been approved.” And I was like – “What? By WHO?” (yes – completely oblivious!), and then he was like, “To adopt a child!”!!!
WhooOooOoOOooOOooOOoo HOOOOOOOOO!
I think it was a phone call from New Life Home orphanage – I saw a missed call from tehm on my phone. But then like – the ORPHANAGE calls to tell us we are approved? Not our social worker??? I am a bit confused about that part. And that we were to go on MONDAY to select a child??? Something like that.
Which has spun us into another dilemma, because Kush has upcoming work abroad, so have to wait a bit before we can actually select a child… once we have found our daughter – we can’t leave her behind!! Ya know? And our daughter cannot leave Kenya until her passport and adoption is finalized… a slight pain in the ass, but nothing unexpected.
So the jist of it, we are waiting until about December or January to go and find our daughter… but somehow now that we are APPROVED, it is more painful to wait. I dunno. It’s hard to explain. But then again – I was giving Meer his bath tonight, and was thinking – I can do this for TWO kids at once??? I can still be a great mom to Meer AND another infant?? Suddenly I can see why parents tend to wait for 2 or 3 years between children!! Maybe it is just a slap of reality hitting me…
Anyway – off to bed! Just had to share the good news as soon as possible!
Many blessings…
So we both open our bars, and began walking and pushing Meer in his car…
Kush was like, “We’ve been approved.” And I was like – “What? By WHO?” (yes – completely oblivious!), and then he was like, “To adopt a child!”!!!
WhooOooOoOOooOOooOOoo HOOOOOOOOO!
I think it was a phone call from New Life Home orphanage – I saw a missed call from tehm on my phone. But then like – the ORPHANAGE calls to tell us we are approved? Not our social worker??? I am a bit confused about that part. And that we were to go on MONDAY to select a child??? Something like that.
Which has spun us into another dilemma, because Kush has upcoming work abroad, so have to wait a bit before we can actually select a child… once we have found our daughter – we can’t leave her behind!! Ya know? And our daughter cannot leave Kenya until her passport and adoption is finalized… a slight pain in the ass, but nothing unexpected.
So the jist of it, we are waiting until about December or January to go and find our daughter… but somehow now that we are APPROVED, it is more painful to wait. I dunno. It’s hard to explain. But then again – I was giving Meer his bath tonight, and was thinking – I can do this for TWO kids at once??? I can still be a great mom to Meer AND another infant?? Suddenly I can see why parents tend to wait for 2 or 3 years between children!! Maybe it is just a slap of reality hitting me…
Anyway – off to bed! Just had to share the good news as soon as possible!
Many blessings…
Friday, August 17, 2007
Adoption - Some Inspiration
Well – deciding to do it is the hardest part. There is a lot of inspiration available – all you have to do is visit an orphanage once, and you will be touched so deeply you will suddenly find adoption in your heart.
Before we went, I had it in my head I would have to adopt an infant - the younger the better. But after visiting with the children, I knew it was in me to adopt a toddler! Who would have thunk it. After speaking with our pediatrician though, we have decided to maintain the birth order for Meer, and will be adopting a child younger than he is. Aparently it is easier for them to bond if the oldest stays the oldest, etc. Makes sense, really.
Anyway - the above picture was taken by my Mom, at an orphanage called New Life Home Trust. (You can check out their web page by clicking on the title of this post.) The home cares for up to 50 babies, all of which were HIV+ and abandoned at birth. When we were there they had 47 babies. The babies are taken in between 0 – 3 months old, and then moved on to other homes when they reach the age of 3. Some are adopted, but as one of the workers told us, only about 10 per year. This is a bit confusing when you compare it to the stats on the website (which says most children are adopted or fostered), so I think that means lots of children become fostered, but not actually adopted. I should also add that 70% of them are HIV negative by the age of about 4 months old.
The orphanage is run in a quite large house – three separate wings/stories for the different ages; 0-1, 1-2, and 2-3. The home is VERY clean, and they have a lot of volunteers from all over the world that come to play with the children, and help with feedings, etc. There is a doctor’s office within the home, where pediatricians come on a volunteer basis to provide healthcare for the children. There is also an isolation nursery where the very young stay when they first arrive. There were 9 newborns there when we visited. They are in isolation to protect them from germs while they fight off the HIV virus.
All in all it is a really good place. I highly recommend you to snoop around their website – they have some stories of the individual babies that are really touching.
Anyway – I hope you are inpired! ;-D
Before we went, I had it in my head I would have to adopt an infant - the younger the better. But after visiting with the children, I knew it was in me to adopt a toddler! Who would have thunk it. After speaking with our pediatrician though, we have decided to maintain the birth order for Meer, and will be adopting a child younger than he is. Aparently it is easier for them to bond if the oldest stays the oldest, etc. Makes sense, really.
Anyway - the above picture was taken by my Mom, at an orphanage called New Life Home Trust. (You can check out their web page by clicking on the title of this post.) The home cares for up to 50 babies, all of which were HIV+ and abandoned at birth. When we were there they had 47 babies. The babies are taken in between 0 – 3 months old, and then moved on to other homes when they reach the age of 3. Some are adopted, but as one of the workers told us, only about 10 per year. This is a bit confusing when you compare it to the stats on the website (which says most children are adopted or fostered), so I think that means lots of children become fostered, but not actually adopted. I should also add that 70% of them are HIV negative by the age of about 4 months old.
The orphanage is run in a quite large house – three separate wings/stories for the different ages; 0-1, 1-2, and 2-3. The home is VERY clean, and they have a lot of volunteers from all over the world that come to play with the children, and help with feedings, etc. There is a doctor’s office within the home, where pediatricians come on a volunteer basis to provide healthcare for the children. There is also an isolation nursery where the very young stay when they first arrive. There were 9 newborns there when we visited. They are in isolation to protect them from germs while they fight off the HIV virus.
All in all it is a really good place. I highly recommend you to snoop around their website – they have some stories of the individual babies that are really touching.
Anyway – I hope you are inpired! ;-D
Picture from New Life Home
This is a picture taken at New Life Home Trust. I am trying to load other ones, but the internet connection is not fast enough to be friendly just now - I will keep trying! Until then, these are some kids playing out on the grass with some volunteers...
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