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Matched!

Matched!

Most of you probably know we have actually been matched for a while, but I'm just now getting around to writing a little bit about it.




We are so happy to officially be pursuing the adoption of our daughter. We know her name, her face, and her sassy little personality. It was a day that I honestly wasn't sure would ever come. From the day that we were approved by India to adopt to the day we saw our daughter's face was 1 year and 4 1/2 months, and 2 years 4 months since we had begun the adoption process. There  were several reasons for the delay including changes in the adoption office of the government of India and of course COVID. The longer we waited, the more unsure I was if the day would ever come. 

Christmas was really hard for me. This was the third Christmas since we'd started our adoption process and we hadn't had an update in almost a year and a half. I had been praying fervently for months that we would be matched by the end of 2020. 

Cody and I agreed we would wait until after the holidays and then reach out to our caseworker to check in. 

By the end of January, we had an email that said "File Notification" and inside was information about the most precious little boy (yes, you read that right... boy. keep reading...). We instantly knew we wanted to move forward, but the next day we found out that we were not allowed to match with him due to a technicality and rule that India has regarding the age difference between parents and the child they are adopting.

I still have his picture saved on my phone, and pray that he finds his family. As hard as that was, I know that God has an amazing family for that little boy. 

Five days later, on February 2nd, we received the file for our daughter! Cody was out of town for work and I called him about 20 times before I finally got him and told him to immediately check his email. Again, we read all the medical information first and then we saw the most beautiful little face and big brown eyes. She was our daughter. 

We had to have her medical file reviewed by the International Adoption Clinic so we had the full picture of her needs. Once we got the report back, we signed and notarized what felt like 200 documents to officially move forward with adopting her as our daughter. We “officially” accepted on February 26th, even though we had already decided in our hearts the day we saw her picture. We fully believe she was meant for our family and has already blessed our lives so much. We still can’t believe we get the honor to be this amazing little girl’s parents. 

Even though this wait has been grueling, and the process isn’t over yet, we’d do every second again for her. She’s so worthy of love and a family. 

Please continue to pray with us for the rest of this process. We are currently waiting on approval from the citizenship and immigration office. After that, we will be applying for the “No Objection Certificate” from CARA before being registered in court in India. Each step must be completed before we can bring our girl home,  and can take varying amounts of time. We are praying each step will be smooth and to have favor with the judge we are assigned to. 

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