Life is full of twists and turns...

So after making the BIG decision to abandon fertility treatments, we began our journey towards adoption. Once that decision was made we decided to adopt internationally from Vietnam. It was a no-brainer for us, as a colleague of mine adopted from TDH approx. 10 years ago. Paul and I had the pleasure of spending Christmas with my colleague and her daughter Victoria while on a layover in BC over 5 years ago now. We fell in love with her - she was spunky and outgoing, friendly and beautiful in every way. We said "ironically"..."if we ever adopt we would like to adopt from Vietnam..." WHO KNEW?

So, in early October of 2007 we contacted a social worker and after much discussion we were persuaded (by friends and family etc...) to adopt privately (even after we had attended International Adoption Seminars etc...). We were told that because of our age (34yrs) we would have a good shot at private adoption. We were told we were "A Shiny Couple"... so we were convinced. We knew the competition was stiff but we were up for the challenge. Private it was!!! We completed our private adoption homestudy and registered with 4 different agencies ($$$$). In March of 2008 we were contacted 3 seperate times in the space of a week to be told we were being considered. We were over the moon that week and then down in the dumps, and then over the moon and then down in the dumps and then....well you get the picture, as they say, close only counts in horseshoes and in the end the birth mothers went with other couples. We came so close at one point I even decorated the nursery and bought our new little girl her first wardrobe. Lesson Learned - what is it that they say "Chickens should not be counted before they hatch..." Wise Words!!

So after 9 long months of waiting and waiting, and waiting some more, we finally got the call - only it was not the call we had thought we would get. It was our Vietnam Agency (TDH) calling to tell us that we had made it up to the primary list and we should send in our homestudy and application. So a decision needed to be made....Private? or International? What to do, what to do?? In the end we decided to go with International as it was our first love and our first instinct...it was also a sure bet 'cause we had learned how unpredictable the world of private adoption can be. So we called up our SW and asked her to do an amendment and make our homestudy "Internationally Friendly"($$$).

Problem: Our home visit had an expiry date of September 02, 2008. So I called TDH and asked them to fire it off to the Ministry ASAP before our documents expired and we had to shell out more cash to keep it up to date. They agreed and our docket was sent off on August 28th. Here's hoping it gets there in time and does not prove to be expired by the time they get to look at it.

Stay tuned....