FAQs
How long has this been going on?
Tough to say but we have found paperwork with a date of March ‘21. However, I can tell you the verbal agreement happened late summer/early fall of 2020 during an outdoor mass at St. John the Baptist.
Why are we just finding out about it now?
Sorry? But we are not the “traditional parents”. We are a bit older than most looking to have children. Colombia is a very traditional country and there was a very strong chance that we could have been denied at any step along the way. So rather than telling everyone and never having answers to questions like “how’s it going?”, we opted to wait as long as we could before talking openly about it.
Are you nuts??
Ridiculous question and how dare you! But yes, we are. Matthew 6:21 says “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Bottom line is we prayed. We prayed A LOT prior to making any decision to move ahead. We have chosen to trust in God’s providence.
Why adopting from Colombia and not the USA?
In the beginning we worked with Children’s Home Society that did both, International & Domestic adoptions. Here in the U.S., they offer “open adoptions” which give birth mothers the opportunity to be involved in their biological child’s life. Now I do admit that this sounds nice in some regards, some aspects scared us both such as:
What type of lifestyle to you want to subject your children to?
How confusing would this be for the child?
Claudia being from Colombia, adopting internationally just felt right. Mariana was born in Claudia’s home town of Pereira. Santi was born on the other side of the river in a town called Dos Quebadas. We have had the opportunity to share that culture with them and teach them Spanish as well. Andre is from Bogota which will be a little different but culture, food, language? He will get them all and I’m guessing develop a deep love for the Colombian National Soccer Team like his siblings and mother. Just a hunch.
How long will you be in Colombia?
The agency says 6-8 weeks. Due to our desire to visit family and friends, it will probably be closer to the 8-week mark but a great effort will be made to be back before all school related events kick off for the upcoming year.