We got the phone call!

Just 17 days ago, I wrote you all a lengthy letter regarding our adoption process. In that letter, I said the following:

It is evident that this process is a long one, and it involves various turns and unpredictable moments. We are only about half way through, and we can expect more turns and twists to be in the road ahead.

Well, here is definitely a twist we did not expect: Yesterday morning we got a phone call from our adoption agency. Our paperwork arrived in Russia last week, and very quickly two children were identified for us! We are now in the Referral Stage.

WE WILL BE FLYING TO RUSSIA IN JUST THREE WEEKS TO MEET OUR NEW CHILDREN!!!

We don’t have our flights lined up yet, but we have to present ourselves at the orphanage on May 21st.

If you read about the "referral stage" in the previous blog entry, you will note that we thought we would be getting this phone call 6 to 12 months from now. Our adoption agency had informed us that even though the accreditation was not currently in place, some families were being processed on a case-by-case basis. They told us that it could happen to us, but not to expect it. So we didn’t expect it. Talk about twists and turns. That phrase might well describe our stomachs right now.

As to what will happen now, the description of this stage is still mostly true, except we will not receive any information about these children prior to meeting them. Due to the non-accredited status of our agency, this adoption will officially be an “independent adoption” as opposed to an “agency adoption.” (Sort of a “for sale by owner”) WACAP will still do everything they normally do with an agency adoption, but their name will not be on certain documents. The biggest difference for us is that Russia will not release to them any information about these children. We have been well-assured that the children match our home study request for 2 children ages 0-5. We do not know their ages, gender, or if they are siblings or not. We do not know much at all, and will not find out until Monday morning, May 21st at the orphanage in Russia.

Their initial phone call was to find out if we were open to a “blind adoption.” After we understood it better, we hung up to discuss it together. I asked Victor what he thought, and he replied without hesitation, “I think we should go and get them.” I felt the same.

We are very confident that WACAP is an above-board organization that operates with integrity. They would not put us in at risk or force us into compromise. They have done many of these adoptions. In fact, two of the seven Russian regions where WACAP works always do blind adoptions as a policy. Because of their experience with this, they were quite confident that the Russian government reads our specific request carefully to find a match, and we would not be put into the position of spending $5000 on the trip, only to meet a sibling group of five teenagers. ☺

The reality is that the information we would have received ahead of time is quite limited. There is nothing like meeting the children personally. (Even then, as with any person on the planet, there is always more to learn about them.) I spoke with one Christian family a few weeks ago who had received a referral for two unrelated boys. Upon arriving in Russia, they didn’t feel right about one of them, and chose not to adopt him. They were presented with another child the next day, and she said, “I knew immediately that he was supposed to be my son.”

The main thing I would like to ask prayer for now is that we would have a strong sense of the Lord’s guidance regarding the acceptance of our children. We do not want to be put in the position of the above-mentioned family, but I admire their guilt-free ability to turn down a referral. If need be, we will do the same. We will still have the same opportunity to consult with a U.S.-based physician while in Russia.

This first trip will be one week long. We will visit the orphanage every day, Monday through Friday. We will return on Memorial Day weekend without the children. Our second trip will be about three months later, and we will stay for a full month on that one. On that trip we will get custody of our children immediately, and will return with them.