Here are some interesting tidbits, startling facts…and a few answers to questions you might wonder but not ask…
* The most recent statistics on the number of orphans in the world according to UNICEF is 145 million. And over 15 million children have lost one or both parents to AIDS (over 11.6 million of those live in sub-Suharan Africa)
* As if losing your mommy and daddy isn’t hard enough…in Ethiopia—1 in 10 children die before their 1st birthday and 1 in 6 die before their 5th birthday.
* We’re adopting a baby from Ethiopia…and because we didn’t have a gender preference…our agency said we’d get a baby boy! (the wait list for a girl is much longer…so they said we can pretty much count on a baby boy with no gender preference…either way…we are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO EXCITED!)
* Adoption costs between $20K-$40K…all depending on the country. Not inexpensive. YET PRICELESS. And we serve a God with a limitless bank account…so we count on Him for our provision!
* 82% of Ethiopian people survive on less than $1 a day
* Ethiopia’s doctor to children ratio is 1 to 24,000
* Our baby will be Frank’s age or younger (he’ll be 1 on November 1st!) Our agency and our home study consultant recommends we maintain birth order…Frank will most likely have a side kick…and probably just a bit younger than he is. Ahhh…that’s 3 boys and a very sassy little girl in the Young house. FUN!
* Once we turn in our dossier (in a week or so)…we’ll be waitlisted. The wait for a boy can be any where from 3-12 months. Paper pregnancy is exciting…you never know when you’re due date is!
* Richard and I will both go over to get our little one while our kids stay here with friends and family. The trip over only lasts a week—just enough time to get paperwork and our little guy a passport…and then we’ll be home together at last!
* In Ethiopia, 1 in 3 people are HIV+
* Laney asked me last week if I was carrying our baby in Africa in my tummy. “No sweetheart…this baby is growing in momma’s heart.”
We can’t wait to be on the wait list VERY soon! The months will probably go slower than they ever have as we wait…but we welcome that as things have been busy here—and we’re looking forward to a few months to decorate another nursery and get ready for another sweet one in our lives!!!
by admin
I know just how you feel. I can't wait to get put on the wait lists. We've been held up for so long with the darn fingerprints and it is so exciting to be this close.
It will be fun to go through this journey together. We assume we'll be getting a little boy too. I am sure they will be little buddies over there 🙂