The Road Less Traveled

Joe and I are on a quest to be joined with our son or daughter. This journey actually began some time ago with our decision to start a family. However, it became clear to us that we are being led down a different road - the road less traveled. Our quest is taking us to Kazakhstan. I know in my heart that our baby is there waiting for us. Like many parents who set out on the adoption journey we have selected a child from a photolisting. However, I have been warned that nothing is written in stone and our baby may indeed be adopted by another family or reunited with his birthmother. The boy we have chosen is one year old (as of the end of April) and has the most brilliant smile! We battle our own emotions when trying to decide between keeping his pictures up around the house, allowing those daydreams that creep into our minds, and rejoicing - or keeping our hearts closed and remaining cautious.

When a woman is pregnant she is blessed with a nine month period of time to bond with her unborn child. She and her husband can dream, plan and celebrate the life they have created. When adopting...you must remain both hopeful and skeptical at the same time. It is a very difficult balance that I am not certain I can manage as an all-or-nothing personality. Joe has resolved to ward off heartache by doing his best to remain neutral. He sees this boy and imagines him being our son, playing in our backyard - throwing the ball to Daddy. If it unravels it will devastate him. And while we are both 100% certain that we will come home from this quest with a beautiful and precious baby...we acknowledge that the road ahead will be fraught with both joy and uncertainty.