Many of you know that after we had Lilliana in 2007 we decided to adopt our second child. We began the process to adopt from Ethiopia and were in that program for almost three years. Due to some changes in the adoption program, our timeline went from 9-12 months to almost 3 years overnight. We knew we still wanted to have another biological child so we decided to leave it in God’s hands about which child would join our family next. Two months later we got pregnant with Emmalyn and had to make the heartbreaking decision to leave the Ethiopian adoption program.
Just a few days after Emmalyn was born we found out that she is deaf. While this was difficult news to hear, we were so glad that our precious baby didn’t have a life-threatening issue. We are blessed to live in a time with many opportunities for deaf children. We have spent the last two years at many doctors appointments and in many speech therapy sessions.
A few months ago we realized we were ready to think about having another child. We decided that now was the time to adopt. And because of our experience with Emmalyn, our hearts were open to a child with special needs. I began checking listings of children in China that were considered to be “special focus.” This means that they are considered to be difficult to place because of their special need or their age. One night I stumbled across a photo of a gorgeous little boy who was listed as deaf. I requested to review his file and within a couple of days (full of prayer!) we knew he was our son!
We quickly filled out a lot of paperwork and requested a PA from China. A PA is a pre-approval to adopt our son and be matched to him. We received that PA a few weeks ago. We have just completed our homestudy and are working on submitting our dossier. Now we are on the journey to bring him home. We cannot wait to meet our son and introduce him to his sisters and to his extended family!
Check back here for updates on our adoption and for info on ways to help bring Nathanael home. Right now we would simply ask for prayer that the process would go smoothly and that Nathanael’s heart would be prepared to join our family. We love you all and thank you so much for your support.
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