Ok this isn't day one. This is the first post. The story thus far.
I am John Bryant, my wife Wendy and I live in Des Moines Iowa. We considered international adoption previously. The only reason we didn't was because my wife became pregnant with our second child. All this after failed fertility treatments and an in vitro fertilization attempt. That was five years ago.
We have a daughter Jaenelle and a son Jack. We decided we really do want more children. We were a little older when we got married, a little slow on having children (due to my initial reluctance and some fertility issues) now we are in our forties and we decided we want a bigger family. Off to adoption we go.
We've settled on Latvia. International adoption appeals to us due to its permanence that US fostering sometimes lacks. We want to adopt a sibling group and older children. We've done the baby and tot thing with our own. We know that there are children who need parents whose biggest challenges are that they are older (say over 9) and that there are three or more of them. Sure they will have some challenges, we expect it. It just kills me to read some of the backgrounds (Latvia has an excellent site) of some of the sibling groups and see the lack of interest in these groups.
So I decided to keep a blog. I'll make it more public once I get more info in it.
Where we stand...
Homestudy nearly done and the dossier about ready to send off for evaluation. It all will cost a ton of money and time. That's what work is for right? Various grants and tax refunds will pay for this in the end more or less, at least a lot of it. We will probably need to take loans out up front and pay them off over time.
Working on getting our house ready to sell so we can get a bigger one. We need more room for a bigger family.
I know you must think we should have our heads examined. THREE MORE KIDS? Well sure, why the hell not? Lots of reasons? Ok, any good ones? Money is bullshit, we can make money. Time? What else do I have to do but raise kids? The risks? Kids with problems? Everybody has problems. Will these be a big challenge, yup. Do we think we are up to the task? Yup.
To be honest, I know my wife is nervous. Hell, so am I. Who wouldn't be? We should be. That isn't going to stop us, not me anyway.
A whole lot of crappy stuff going on. Work will transfer my job out in 9-18 months (or less) Sell and Buy a house. Adoption and all that time and cost. Mother dying slowly of COPD and possibly cancer. Dog blew out his ACL and needed surgery. Nephew nearly died in a car accident. (He will be ok, lots of physical therapy and some surgery) Whatever. We've been waiting too long for this. We wanted to do it before. I will make this happen through sheer force of will if I have to.
We aren't those types that thank god for everything and believe some higher power is doing nice things for us or we fulfill some calling to do this. We are doing it for the money... right. No, we believe fervently that our kids are good kids. We are pretty good parents and that we can give a strong and loving family to more children.I love being a father. I never thought I would, I do. I can do this for more kids. I can't save the world, but I can help make life better for a few more kids though.
Enough of my mental vomit. Till next time... :-)
