The day after tomorrow...

Wow, hopefully the day after tomorrow Nathen will officially be our son and we can start making final arrangements to bring him home! Since I can not post any pictures or identifying information on Nathen until after we pass court I thought I would give you a little sneak peak! Surely he can not be identified by that sweet little hand. Hopefully Friday I will be able to share all of him. :)

Today I wanted to share facts about Ethiopia directly regarding the children and orphans there. We have soooo many people question us on why Ethiopia and why not adopt a child here in the US. Most people just don't get it or see the reality of the world. You are lucky just to be born in the US. Even the poorest people in the US have it better than most people in Ethiopia and other 3rd world countries around the world.

In the US children eligible for adoption are mostly given up at birth through private adoptions and agencies. There is a steady line of families waiting to pay $50,000 or more for these "perfect" infants. Children that enter the states foster system are usually taken from their parents due to abuse or neglect and not ever eligible for adoption. There is a small percentage of children eligible for adoption through sate agencies, it takes years for them to be cleared for adoption, and most are older children/sibling sets. Our government makes it very difficult for these children to ever be adopted. Private adoptions are very risky! Of course living all or most of your childhood in a US foster home is not ideal it is better than hundreds of children living in an orphanage or on the streets, trust me!

There are approx 4 million orphans in Ethiopia living in orphanages or on the street. Newborn and child death rates in Ethiopia are among the highest in the world. 1 in 10 children die in infancy and almost half will die by age 5. This is due to disease, illness, and starvation. Children often die from minor illness such as diarrhea due to the lack of medical care available. 1 in 4 women die during pregnancy or childbirth. Only 6% of births are assisted by a skilled professional. Girls are married as young as age 14, resulting in high risk pregnancies with these young girls trying to carry a baby and giving birth. They just do not have the access to birth control, medications, vaccinations, and basic medical care. Try comparing these facts to American statistics! I can go on and on... Most Americans can not see past the "world" they live in and see the World as a whole and just don't understand or don't want to.

Nick and I physically can have children, we just chose not to bring another child into this world when there are so many already born that desperately need a family. Adoption is something that I have always known I would do. My parents kept foster children through a private adoption agency from the time I was 3 until I was 15. They had infertility issues and were unable to have children after my birth. They were never able to adopt a child in the US due to, guess what, the extreme difficulty and cost of it! Although When I was 16 a miracle happened and my brother was born. A couple months after I was married another miracle happened and I now have 2 biological brothers! BTW my Mom and I had babies 4 months apart! Yeah, it is kind of weird but cool! So I am VERY familiar with the adoption process both domestic and international. WE chose international because we felt that was where we were needed most and the right path for us. God led us to Ethiopia because he knew that was
where Nathen would be waiting for us.

Ok, so I will stop now and turn my attention back to the VERY important event in our life happening in 2 DAYS!!!