"Huh, Bulgaria? I don't even know where that is"
"So, what do Bulgarians look like?"
"How long will you have to wait?"
"What are Bulgarian adoptions like / how are they different?"
Ok, so I'll try to give you as much info as I know...which isn't a ton.
Image from: http://www.hopscotchadoptions.org/pages/bulgaria.html (this is not our adoption agency)
Bulgaria sits next to Greece and Turkey. It is a prominently Christian (Eastern Orthodox) country and has a multi ethnic group of people. The majority of people will have a "Greek" look about them (Dark hair, dark eyes) but there is also a large number of people that are fair skinned and lighter eyes.
PLEASE KNOW...race played zero influence on our decision. We were considering China, Ethiopia and Madagascar as well.
Our first choice for adoption was Russia. But things just didn't seem to be working out for that country, so our social worker strongly advised us to go in a different direction with China, Ethiopia or Madagascar. We were pretty heart broken about it. And...we just didn't have a peace about any of the other choices. Though, we did try to figure out a way to adopt from China. However, the Chinese governments personal financial requirements of us were proving to be a bit much and unattainable.
Then...a month ago, she (our social worker) emailed us to say that Bulgaria was now an option. Immediately, we just had a peace and "knew" that THAT was where we were supposed to adopt from.
The Bulgarian adoption program is Hague accredited. Meaning (in not so many words) "it's legit". (Though there are other non-accredited countries that are "legit" as well. But, some are definitely NOT and should be avoided.) Some people hold differing opinions about that. But, there's mine.
According to our adoption agency website. (Small World Adoption: www.swa.net ) The program for a healthy child is anywhere from a 2 month to a 3 year wait. We're praying for the lesser amount.
According to numerous different websites, the age of children available for adoption varies. Some sites say that we can adopt as young as 12 months...others say 24 months. We've requested the youngest available.
HOW CAN YOU HELP OR PRAY?
Yes...please please please do. We need to raise money for our adoption and we need as many people praying over this thing with us. We started the whole process in January 14, 2011 and are desperately wanting things to start moving along a faster pace now.
If you want to help financially, please click the donation link over on the left of this page.
We love you all! Can't wait to see what our little guy or girl will look like.
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