Referral Hallelujahs

       Before I get to the good stuff, let me bring you all up to date since my post in July.  August 2012 was a "holiday" for the Bulgarian government so there were no referrals during that period.  We took a trip to Washington to hang out with our dear friends the Rittons and were able to go to our agency and spend an afternoon with our caseworker Soojin Park - she is amazing!  We feel so blessed to have her advocating for and walking with us and it was great to be able to meet her in person.  We teased her that since she has never been to Michigan she was going to have to deliver our referral in person when it finally happened. She was very encouraging and we left feeling hopeful and more educated about the Bulgarian system. Something we learned about the orphanage system explained why many children are not referred to adoptive families until at least 18 months old.  Once a child is brought to an orphanage the bio family is still able to visit and there must be 6 months with no contact before the child can be adopted by a Bulgarian family.  In the next phase, 3 Bulgarian families must essentially "reject" the child before s/he can be adopted internationally.  Crazy!

        There was some activity with referrals between then and December and there was a brief holiday again for the government.  During this waiting period, we (all families in the Bulgaria program) receive an email update every Thursday from Soojin that tells us how many families are in each stage of the adoption process, if there have been referrals and paperwork reminders.  Also sometimes there are pictures of kiddos who have already found their forever families and "Gotcha Videos" (video from the day a child joins their family...you can see a bunch on youtube).  We also have phone calls scheduled monthly just to touch base.  We started talking about needing to renew our home study before it expires in July and the NBC (National Benefit Center, aka Immigration) updates.  If our paperwork expires, we lose our spot!  Also, AGCI Michigan hired a new social worker to take over for our hero, Renee, and we needed to connect with her.

        January and February had no referrals until the end of February when there was finally an email (Hallelujah!) that showed 3 referrals - 2 girls and twin boys. I emailed Soojin on March 4 wondering how to reach Sarah, our new Michigan caseworker and she emailed back wondering if she could call us later to go over things.  She called minutes after we got home and I grabbed one phone (land line) and John had the other so we could both be in on the conversation.  She greeted us in her usual cheerful manner and then said "Well, I wish I could be there in person to give you this news..."(and John came rushing in from the kitchen with his jaw dropped to the floor, I think I was jumping around) and then she said the most amazing thing..."I am sitting here looking at pictures of two beautiful boys - twins!"  I could barely process what she was saying.  In fact, I have no idea what else she said except "I am emailing you their referral pictures and information.  Enjoy!".  We hung up and quickly got the laptop and got our first glimpse of these precious boys.  Hallelujah!  God is so good!  We spent the next several hours on the phone with and visiting family (and nearly family) and praying with them in thanksgiving for the boys. (Did I mention that I have felt for several years now that we would get a referral for two kiddos and not just one?  Hallelujah!)

        Pretty quickly we had to get down to business and find an International Pediatric Adoption Specialist to consult with.  AGCI provides families with a list of doctors across the country and we eventually (after a not so great first consult in Michigan) found the International Adoption Clinic at Cincinnati Children's Hospital.  They have been fabulous and thorough and realistic and encouraging.  The boys were born about 2 months premature and there are some issues that go along with that. We needed to be educated so we could make an informed decision about the boys.  We could choose not to parent them if we feel that we would not be a good match.  The agency typically gives families 10 business days to make a decision, but extended our time since we were considering twins and also because the referral came to us sooner than expected (less than one year from the time we were "listed" with Bulgaria).

         It just so happened that we were going to be in Nashville with a group of students from Hope College on an immersion trip during the time that we needed to make our decision.   Over the years we had chosen not to take certain trips because we "might get a call to go to Bulgaria".  When this opportunity came up we decided we were tired of saying no to things just because we "might" get a phone call.  So we said yes, and surprise,  we got our phone call.  Imagine that!  The students and Nashville were amazing and we wouldn't trade that trip for anything.  We got the last piece of information from our doctor on Thurday Mar 21 and called Soojin right away from outside a restaurant to tell her that we ABSOLUTELY wanted to create a family with the boys.  Hallelujah!  We ran back inside to 10 pairs of expectant eyes looking at us and waiting for the good news.  It was so fun to be able to share that moment with them!!   We were so excited we had to continue the celebration at The Pied Piper Ice Creamery!

        Since we have been home from Nashville (March 23) it has been a whirlwind of sharing our news and LOTS of paperwork.  Turns out we get to make our first trip to Bulgaria in 2 weeks.  Wait, what?  WE ARE MEETING OUR SONS IN 2 WEEKS PEOPLE!!!!!   My soul wells up with Hallelujahs!