Good news came in the mail this week; we've been matched to a little boy! His name is Andrey and he's 20 months old. He lives in a baby home in Moscow. We also had an opportunity to view a short video of him playing with his toys and interacting with his caregivers. He is adorable; he has big, brown eyes, dark hair, and a chubby face. It really didn't matter to me what he looked like, it's just nice to see his little face!

Andy and I must have watched his 3 minute video about 30 times over the past few days. It's hard not to imagine him home with us, running around the house, playing with his toys, reading to him. What a joy it will be once he's here; I want the time to go quickly, but we still have a few things to get settled before we bring him home.

Next we'll send his video and medical history to an international adoption specialist. Fortunately there is a group right here in Philadelphia. I've already put a call in to their office and hopefully we'll hear from them shortly. After that we'll send our dossier to Russia and await their invitation to come and meet him. I'm hoping that we'll make our first trip to Moscow within the next 2 months. We're hoping to have him home in time for his second birthday, June 3rd!

Paperwork...blech.

Anyone who is even remotely familiar with International adoption knows the volume of paperwork that is part of the process. Even though I like to consider myself a reasonably intelligent person (this might be debatable), I found it pretty darn intimidating. Intimidating to the point that I had to have our incredibly patient adoption social worker walk through it with me...more than once. I think what makes it even more challenging is that there is alot of emotion tied to the paperwork. We're not completing a tax form, we're paving the way for the arrival of our Little One.

At this point our homestudy is complete and we have approval from US Immigration to adopt an orphan from another country. The partnering adoption agency (the one that will match us with our child and will make all our arrangements for our Russia trip) received their reaccreditation from the Russian government a month ago. Each adoption agency working with Russia had to get reapproved on a regular basis. Recently the system was restructured and each agency, once reapproved, will have lifetime approval. We have the green flag to move ahead. Our agency is currently searching for a little one for us. Hopefully it won't be long before we're scheduling a trip to meet them for the first time!

Paper pregnant

There is no "ready-to-adopt" test kit, blood test, nor "pee stick" for paper pregnancy. There is no clear moment of conception, no tell-tale physical changes that occur, no morning sickness. No ultrasound, no feeling a baby move inside you. My journey is a little different.




People decide to adopt a child for different reasons. Commonly it's infertility that leads people down the adoption path. Sometimes it's a single person who is ready to be a parent but doesn't have a partner with whom to produce a child. Other times it's couples of the same sex who want to experience the joys of parenthood.



For us it's pretty straightforward. We wanted to give a home to a little one who would otherwise grow up in an orphanage. Both of us knew we'd be fulfilled and overjoyed if our child joined our family through adoption. Nope, I don't feel like I'm "missing out" on anything by not having a biological child. If I did I doubt the choice would have been as easy for us as it was.



Our child won't grow under my heart, but grows within it. This Little One that we haven't met, whose gender we don't even know. Who right now is probably sleeping in their little crib, thousands of miles away. Our love for you couldn't possibly be any more tangible, any more real, even if you were growing inside of me. We've just been waiting a lot longer than 9 months to meet you.