Subtitled: How to go from two(2) to five(5) in 4 months.

Like many (most?) sibling group adoptions, our story starts out with us wanting to adopt an infant. We had been trying to adopt from Panama for well over two years (first our fingerprint clearance expired, then our I-600A expired). Eventually it was clear that it could take an even longer time to complete an adoption in Panama and we just weren’t willing to wait that long.

So we cut our losses and started investigating other countries. We decided to work with WHFC and adopt from Ethiopia. It was rather ironic that we had requested information from them when we were searching for a country to adopt from the first time, but decided not to adopt from them/there because their program was so new. 2 years later and 100+ kids adopted, it seemed like a good fit for us.

So we filled out the paperwork for the initial application for an infant. Some time between when we sent in the paperwork and when they contacted us, we decided that we would like to adopt 2 kids. We had been trying to adopt for so long and we knew that we wanted 2 kids that we figured we would just get it over with. I know that sounds kind of harsh, but really, the process of adoption isn’t a loving thing; the end result is, but the act of adoption is a pain in the butt, filled with anxiety. And we had waited long enough that we had saved quite a bit to be able to afford the added expenses.

So we got our homestudy updated, documents filled out, notarized, etc, in about 2 weeks (probably not a record, but in the top 5%, I would guess) and our dossier was off to Ethiopia. 2 months later we had our referral for Meron and Estifanos and 2 months later we were traveling to get them. Tada: Insta-family!

Wait, but 2+2 = 4 where did the 5th one come in you ask? More on Yordie later!