What have Heather and I gotten ourselves into? Mounds of paperwork that needs to filled out. The paperwork then needs to be notarized. Then after the final papers are signed and notarized, they would then need to be certified by the state of California. Oh yeah, then we need to get it authenticated by the Chinese consulate. Once these documents that make up the dossier to China are done, we then can send it over to China to be logged into their system, or LID (log in date).
Forgot to mention, that as we fill out the formal documentation, we needed to not only select an adoption organization, but also complete a homestudy to also get notarized and authenticated. The homestudy would cover our relationship, relationship skills, family, past and also evaluate our ability to parent an adopted child. Not to mention, be our connection point via the Hague Convention country that we choose for our international adoption, in this case - China.
All this paperwork. All the signatures. For what? For why?
Doc! Take us back in the past!
Almost four years ago, we decided to begin our journey to start a family. As we thought, our "monthly visitor" was always on time and never let us down. In a way, we felt that timing it right would allow for us to get pregnant fairly easily. After months without success, we decided to get a "ClearBlue" look into things so we can time our pregnancy better. The timing was definitely not in synce.
After some prayer and discussion, we decided to talk to a Reproductive Endocrinologist at our medical group. She was awesome and gave us awesome care. The following two years opened our eyes to God's amazing creative genius and how life begins. More importantly, how God's plan for our family journey was not the one we imagined, yet the one for us.
As a result, we found out that Heather has a condition known as endometriosis. This condition, in a nutshell, made it scientifically difficult for us to easily get pregnant. We decided to try different medical assisted procedures for a span of 2 years. It started with a laproscopy to clear as much as possible, followed by multiple unsuccessful intrautrine inseminiation (IUI), a successful in vitro fertilization (IVF), and finally ending in a heartbreaking miscarriage of our twins.
In our journey of infertility, God remained faithful throughout. Each day God found a way to draw us closer dispite the emotional roller coaster; the physical impact of surgery, needles and loss; the relationship toll in our marriage, family, friends, and God; and our personal spiritual relationship with God. Through His unwavering faithfullness and plan for our family, God has carried us and whether we knew it or not, led us through this journey to start our family through adoption.
We have always considered adoption as a way to extend our family but not as a means to start it. One thing we have continuously learned on this journey is God is good, no matter our circumstances. That has undoubtedly led us to where we are today and pregnant with paperwork.
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