As promised in our survey of the various adoption options open to LDS families, I will be sharing a few stories from families who chose to adopt through each of the avenues we discussed. Today's story is from L.W., who tells us of her family's experiences adopting a son independently from Ukraine.

We have 4 daughters in a row and then a "caboose" son, six years junior to his next oldest sister. We felt bad for him that he was the only boy and so much younger than his sisters. I had him when I was 38, so really didn't... more

Haitian Chicken (This is my own concoction based on several Haitian chicken recipes, and if I do say so myself, this one is divine.)

2 pounds cubed chicken 1/2 green bell pepper 2 + 2 cloves garlic 3 whole cloves 1/2 medium onion 1 bunch parsley 1 small can tomato paste 1 cup chicken broth juice of 4 limes 1/2 cup orange juice 1 Tbsp hot pepper (Tabasco) sauce 2-3 sprigs of thyme salt and pepper

Finely chop green pepper. Saute in oil... more

The beginning of a new year can be a busy time for anyone, but we find ourselves particularly busy due to the traffic jam of first-of-the-year holidays we celebrate in our family. Mercifully, Chinese New Year begins in February this year, so we find ourselves celebrating “only” Christmas, New Year’s Day, and Haitian Independence Day in one week’s time. Most Christian Ethiopians observe an orthodox Christmas, so we’ll have that to throw into the mix when our new child arrives next year. For now, though, we’ll enjoy the... more

About the children

In the majority of countries, children are considered “infants” from 0-24 months. In most of the more popular countries, babies are in the 8-14 month range at the time of referral, but it is possible to adopt younger babies (as young as 3 months) from some African countries, South Korea, and historically, Viet Nam. In all countries but China, there are more boys than girls available, but it is possible to adopt a boy from China. Some countries do not have infant programs, but those that do generally... more

Homecoming

Some countries require two trips to complete an adoption, but most require a single trip. Trips vary in length from 3-5 days (Haiti, Taiwan, and Ethiopia, among others) to 30 days or more (some parts of Kazakhstan and Russia, for example.) Still others have lengthy residency requirements and may not be options for most Americans. Still, these programs can be popular among U.S. expatriates, those who have relatives in other countries, Christian missionaries, etc. Other countries (Ethiopia, South Korea and... more

In this part of our series, we’ll be exploring international adoption for LDS families. The popularity of international adoption has exploded over the last several years, and in 2002, over 21,000 international adoptions took place in the U.S. alone! According to U.S. immigration statistics, China (6062), Russia (4904), Guatemala (2361), South Korea (1713) and Ukraine (1093) rounded out the top five countries where Americans found their children.

Choosing international adoption can be a daunting process, particularly if a couple is unsure... more

After just shy of a year of waiting, our three new Haitian kids were escorted home to us on October 5, 2006. We'd visited them once in October of 2005, and again in April/May of 2006, and this really helped us not to go stir-crazy during the long wait. Haiti can be a trying program because of frequent changes in the process, but being able to visit is a wonderful perk that isn't an option in many international adoption programs. I don't think we could have survived the year without being able to spend time with our children! On the flip side, having to leave your children behind and go home after a wonderful week together is no walk in the park. But the memories, pictures and video we... more

Shortly after we returned home with Sofie, we began thinking about adopting “just one more time” and began to consider various options. With our family size, we were somewhat limited, but we looked into domestic adoption (we’d already had two failed domestic adoptions – more about that later), Taiwan, Mongolia and Viet Nam (which was then rumored to be reopening eventually). We decided that since we weren’t in a big hurry, we might as well wait for things in Viet Nam to get going again. We mailed off our agency application and sat back to settle in with Sofie.

In August, we heard about a sibling group of three from Haiti who needed an LDS home. We’d been told that Haiti wasn’t... more

We’d gotten such a strong witness that Sofie was to be our child that we felt a surge of faith and optimism. We knew she’d be coming home to us, and we got right to work taking the necessary steps to make that happen.

Then came the news: China said no.

Through our adoption coordinator, our facilitator encouraged us not to lose hope and promised he’d keep trying. In the meantime, we fasted, we prayed, we attended the temple. And they still said no.

Things at the CCAA had gotten so strict that they issued a statement to all adoption agencies that they would make NO exceptions for larger family adoption, and that the agencies weren’t to ask or they would risk receiving... more

We’ve heard a lot about adoptions by Angelina Jolie and Madonna recently, but you may be interested to know that a “famous” LDS couple welcomed a new addition into their family just last week. Utah Governor Jon Huntsman and his wife, Mary Kaye, met their new one-year-old daughter Asha, in India on December 19th. The Huntsmans now have seven children, including Gracie Mei whom they previously adopted from China. You can read more about their adoption here.

Adoptions... more