Let the waiting begin.

What’s the toughest part about international adoption? If you ask me, it’s the waiting. There are plenty of tough parts…the unknown, the finances, the adjustment, the paperwork, did I mention the finances?


Waiting is the toughest.

With our previous adoptions, the waiting has been full of unknowns…when will our paperwork be done…when will we get a referral….when will we be submitted to court…when will we travel…etc. etc. etc.

This wait will be different. We know going in that there is quite a bit of time between now and our trip to Seoul (which we are already planning…looks like a stop in Hong Kong for a few days could be in our future!). All of our paperwork should arrive at our adoption agency on Monday. At which time they will turn around and send it on its way to Seoul. Upon our paperwork arriving in South Korea, our spot in line will be secured and the wait shall officially begin. Due to the large backlog of cases submitted before ours that have yet to travel, we have been told the wait will be anywhere between 12 – 14 months. That means it will be at least one year before we can welcome our little guy into our family.

Knowing he is over there and we can’t go get him is tough. Realizing with each passing day a stronger bond will be forming between he and his faster mother is daunting (don’t get me wrong, we are happy he is with a foster mother rather than in an institution). Thinking about bringing a 2 year old that isn’t used to living with young siblings into our sometimes crazy household is difficult. Not getting to celebrate his first and most likely second birthday with him is saddening.

Even with all of that being true, we are so excited to be moving forward with the process.  Getting the paperwork and our fees sent out in the mail is a big, positive step. 

After all, we have three ever-growing little ones at home right now that won’t let us dwell too much on how long the wait is going to be.