Referral News: It’s a Boy!

We are delighted to announce that we have accepted a referral of a baby boy in Taiwan. Praise God!  This is perfect timing for us – Dave is eligible for adoption benefits through his employer beginning next week.  It’s amazing to see God answer our prayers and I am grateful He has given us this gift of a new son!

The call about our referral came as a surprise and I think I am still in shock.  We knew referrals from our agency have started picking up again, and had been told to get our paperwork updated last month.  Still, we thought it would be several more months until we were matched with a child.  When the phone rang on Wednesday and it was our agency’s director, I knew it had to be good news.  She told us about this little boy and said she would send us his file.  When we reviewed the file, we were cautiously optimistic, but wanted a doctor to review it before we accepted the referral.  While talking to the doctor, we learned she had visited this orphanage and she shared her experience visiting the orphanage where our son will live until we can bring him home.  She said the caretakers at this orphanage are phenomenal, and it is unlike any other orphanage she has seen.  She said if we can’t be the ones taking care of our little guy, we can be comforted in knowing that the caretakers at this orphanage are loving on him and taking good care of him.

So, what’s next?  Our paperwork was mailed to Taiwan on Friday and we now await orphanage approval of our application.  Once that happens, our paperwork will be submitted to court.  We won’t be able to travel until our adoption is finalized by the courts in Taiwan.  This process can take 4-6 months, or longer — I am hoping and praying for everything to go smoothly and quickly.