Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Bring on the questions and comments....

Since we have made the announcement we have had sooooooo MANY questions and comments and I have felt that I have had to be  defensive about what we are doing.  I will try to answer and comment on the ones that I feel deem a response.

1.  Why Ethiopia??  Why not China, Guatemala, domestic adoption etc??
For us the timeline, the qualifications needed, and the way we were drawn to this country fit what wanted.  Not to mention the absolute peace that we feel in our hearts when we discuss Africa.  

2.  Why not have a "child of your own"...this one still bothers me...and blows me away when people ask me this...it is an extremely personal question -  but I will do my best to answer it....
Again for us having a biological child is not something that we want to explore right now. Adopting from Ethiopia is in our heart  - we have researched, spoken with MANY other adoptive parents, had the absolute pleasure to meet many Ethiopian children, spoken with our priest, spent thousands of hours on the internet reading about Africa, read adoption books....we have done our homework and this is what we are doing.   BTW - she will be our child she will just be from Ethiopia.

3.  Do you not want to have a baby that looks like you and B?  We do not need to have a child that looks like us to feel at peace.  

4.  Do you not worry about the future of the child and how she will deal with "being different"?  Hmmmm different how?  
By this do you mean color of her skin?  She will be raised in a loving family with 2 parents that love her and that love each other.  The USA is made up of people with every color of skin.  My family alone is  blessed to have people from Italy and Ireland.  She will be raised to feel confident about herself and to be independent.   She be educated about her birth country and to feel pride  that she came from Africa.

5.  When will you get her?  Well, depending on when we choose to start the process - it should take around 15 or so months - hopefully shorter :)!!  

There are other goofy comments/questions that have been made that do not warrant an answer - to those people I just laugh and smile and tell them to read - educate themselves on certain things before they throw their opinions in.


4 comments:

Gwen Oatsvall said...

Hello, I am Tracy and Kristi J. friend ... I love how you answered your questions ... Bottom line is it really isn't anyone's business what you do ... You feel called to Ethiopia, so you are going ... I am sure your journey and your family will be blessed by your sweet baby girl ... I will pray for your journey to go smoothly ... I also love the t-shirts ... We all got them for Christmas last year and I have a couple others ...

Have a blessed day ...

Kristi J said...

I love your post!! How awesome!! That confidence and love for Ethiopia and your baby will get you through any strange question anyone might throw your way!! I'm so proud to know you and know your heart is so pure and loving towards this child you haven't even met yet. Way to go, Girl!!! Everyone comes around and gets it in the end because it is all God's plan not ours...great post, kristi

Trendy Mindy said...

Thank you both for your encouraging words...I won't say it has been an easy week.

I would love to get together with you all and have lunch or coffee or anything :)!!

megan said...

I think you answered your questions wonderfully. Remember you don't owe anyone answers, keep that in mind when joe smoe at the grocery store asks you why you don't have kids of your own.