We are adopting from...

ETHIOPIA! 

Now everybody knows. Woo hoo! Now the obvious question. Why Ethiopia? 

Alex and I have SO MANY friends who have adopted from Ethiopia, and from talking to them, it was the most obvious choice to make because we were already a little bit familiar with their adoption stories. But we were more hesitant to choose Ethiopia because that's what everyone else was doing. We know that their stories are not our story and vice versa. Every couple that adopts has had their own journey that led to that adoption, their own stories as they go through the process and Alex and I wanted to explore every option possible (and I mean EVERY option) before deciding where we would adopt from. It started by looking at EVERY country's adoption requirements. They are all different. Every country has an age requirement, a travel requirement, etc. and we had to filter every country in the ENTIRE WORLD down to the ones that we met the requirements for. Yes, that took a little while but it was exciting because as we scrolled through the requirements we usually were greeted with an immediate "no" or an immediate "yes." Basically, if you don't or can't meet one requirement, that country is off the list. Guess how many countries we had left after looking at every single country in the world? 3. Yes, 3. Ethiopia, Ukraine and Moldova (which we didn't even know about until we talked to a prospective agency). Why only these three? Because of this:

That is me at my senior prom {2007}. Backstory: The Junior class got each Senior (there were only 40 of us) a candy bar that "represented" them. Because I skipped 2nd grade, I was always the baby of our class, hence ---> BabyRuth candybar. How does this relate to adoption? Because I am only 23 years old (22 when we sent in our application), I hinder us from adopting from other countries b/c usually the minimum age requirement is age 25. Ethiopia, Ukraine and Moldova are the only exceptions. 

I'm also guessing that most couples are usually at LEAST 25 when they decide to adopt but we did get married young AND we aren't trying to have a baby. While many couples struggle with infertility (not our case) and then choose adoption, we are kind of doing it backwards. I'm not sure if many agencies took me seriously when I was inquiring around and said I was 22 years old and had been married for over 2 years. I get it. I really do. But God just has a way of being crystal clear sometimes! 

We narrowed it down to Ethiopia after we realized the wait in the Ukraine and Moldova was close to 5 YEARS. Yes, years. And one of the countries had a mandatory 6 week trip that we just couldn't do right now. So with two of the last three countries checked off the list, we were staring at the name of the place where our future daughter would be born. Ethiopia. Somehow I think we knew it all along. We just had to figure it out on our own. Some facts about Ethiopia!! Here is a picture of their flag. 

I think I forgot to mention it is in AFRICA!! People honestly ask us where Ethiopia is and I realize geography is not everyone's strong suit. Here's a map for reference... 

I've enjoyed reading and learning about Ethiopia because of course, we want part of the culture to remain in our daughter's life forever. Here are some sad truths about life for many Ethiopian children:

53 MILLION people live in Ethiopia. 17 years of civil war lasted until 1991 which bankrupted the country and left thousands of orphaned children. The number of orphans increases each year as the diseases of poverty cause premature death of parents. Children in Ethiopia are orphaned due to poverty, effects of war, drought, famine or their parents dying from disease. :( :(

Alex and I know that God has called us to this country for a reason. As I learn more, I'm sure I'll write many more detailed posts about Ethiopia. I can probably even get some pictures from friends who have been there. We have a lot of those... :) But I'm going to leave it at this for now because Alex and I just got back from Niagara Falls visiting my family on Spring Break. I'm exhausted, and we've been traveling all day. But I'm glad I got to write this post because that means we sold 250 puzzle pieces. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!! There are so many left so keep sharing our link. YOUR friends are helping us even if you don't realize it! Thank you to those of you who don't even know us and are supporting us through this journey God has us on. You are SUCH a blessing! 

Alex + Briana 

>>> Check out the blog titled "Under the Sun" on my blog list to read about the adoption of two sisters from Ethiopia! You can see their cute pictures as well. :)