The other day my toddler came out to the living room clutching a little brown teddy bear. I smiled, because this was the bear that I sent to Ethiopia in her gift bag for her. And this was no ordinary bear. This little guy was equipped with a little microchip recorder.

Before I sent it off, I recorded myself singing 'Jesus loves me' to my little girl. In the months it took for me to get to her, many times I imagined the nuns at her orphanage squeezing that bear's tummy and allowing me to sing to my little girl, even though I was so far away.

Indeed, the nuns must have done just that. When I got to the orphanage, the bear was so tired from singing that my voice had... more

In early 2005 we were in the midst of homestudy prep for our 8th child, our 4th adoption. I was a tad more relaxed than I had been the first time around. But still, there's something about knowing someone is coming to inspect your house that can rattle nerves.

I did the cleaning over several days. By the time we got down to the morning of the homestudy, I had almost everything done. One of the things I'd saved for the last minute, though, was taking down the black-out shade in my 2 year old's bedroom.

She had a big window right over her bed that let a lot of cold air drop down onto her bed in the winter... more

The Ethiopian court system closes down for about 6 weeks at the end of every summer to coincide with the Ethiopian New Year. Typically this closure extends from mid-August through the entire month of September. The first cases after the closure are usually heard the first or second week in October.

With the court closure looming, around this time of year, families who don't yet have a referral start to wonder if their referral will come through in time for them to go to court before the closure. If they don't... more

I have a confession to make: I am a woman possessed when I am in the midst of an adoption. I move through paperwork like lightening, and forgive my cockyness, but I am pretty darned good at it. Here are my best tips for keeping that paperwork moving.

Who Cares Most?

First of all, remember that YOU are the person who cares most about your adoption. Always. No matter how well intentioned people are, it is YOU who will have to keep your adoption paperwork on the front burner in people's minds.

Make The Human Connection

At each point in the paperwork-gathering, try to make a personal connection with the actual person who... more

Today I was going through some old papers and found an old email I wrote 8 years ago, right after we had our first homestudy ever. We had four biological kids at the time and were in the process of adopting a child from Korea.

The whole homestudy process was so mysterious that I went a little nutso when it came to preparing our home. I cleaned closets. I cleaned out the fridge. I cleaned under my bed. The kids' rooms were spotless by the time I got done with them. I even bleached grout, for pity sakes.

Here's the email I wrote to the adoption email group after it was all done.

1-22-1998 Hi All, We survived! I feel like shouting it... more

Many families seem to be waiting longer for referrals from Ethiopia these days. I have friends adopting through several different agencies at the moment and this seems to be a phenomenon being felt by everyone. Several factors are probably contributing to this.

The Ethiopian government recently made a new rule that abandoned children need to be in care for three months before their cases will be allowed to go to court. This especially affects infants. Older kids tend more often to be relinquished by extended family, rather than truly abandoned. (Not real comfy with that word, but it is descriptive here.) Also the government is requiring more paperwork before cases... more

Fairly early in the adoption process you’ll want to pick up a copy of the I-600A. This is a BCIS form requesting advance permission to bring an orphan into the US. You can pick it up at your local immigration office--locations listed here. You can also print it off at this website. If you print it off the internet, it is a good idea to print it on salmon-colored paper if possible, since the special color of this form reminds the BCIS office to give it top priority... more

Adrienne shared on the Russia Adoption Blog how they were able to afford adoption. Since this is a big issue for most people, I wanted to share how it worked for us. Our family is a single-income family with a moderate income.

All 4 of our adoptions cost in the range of $15,000. This included agency fees, plane tickets, immigration paperwork, in-country costs, etc. With each of our adoptions we paid for at least two adult airfares, since each time either my husband or one of my older children came along with me.

Our first adoption was funded by refinancing our home. Due to fixing up and... more

In January we were audited by the IRS: something about the numbers of children we were claiming on our taxes. I guess they decided they needed some documentation if we were going to claim so many and get such a big tax refund year after year. I was tempted to bring in every single kid, just to prove their existence. Line them up, 'Sound Of Music'-style and have them give their names. Fill up the guy’s office. The sheer mass, I hoped, would cause him to tremble, fear for his upholstery, and let us all go home.

Then I realized anybody could bring in all the kids in the neighborhood and claim them as their own. And in that type of situation, some of our teens might deny... more

Continuing with the list of dossier items you will need to gather: -- You’ll need a letter from your insurance company stating that the adopted child will be covered by your health insurance from the date he/she is placed in your home. Some insurance companies are pokey getting this back to you, and some homestudy agencies won’t even START the homestudy till they have received this. So call and get that requested. If you happen to get an insurance agent who says they won’t cover an adopted child, politely remind him of the federal law requiring insurance companies to cover all adopted children just as if they had been born into the family.

-- Another thing you will need both... more