Adoption Q & A

Lately we have been asked a lot of questions regarding our adoption from Uganda. We thought it might be a good idea to write a blog post and try to answer all of your questions at once! So, here it goes!

Why are you adopting?

The Lord laid adoption on both of our hearts many many years ago. For Drew it began with his seven mission trips to the Philippines. He spent a lot of time volunteering at an Orphanage there called Uncle Dick's Home. The idea of adoption began to be impressed upon him and he knew it was something he wanted to consider once he was married.

The Lord laid adoption on my heart when I was just a teenager too! It began with the adoption of my two little sisters. When I was 13 years old I began praying that my parents would have another baby. Ha! My parents' reaction? "Yeah right!" =) They had four children (I am the oldest), my youngest brother was 6 years old, they were out of the diaper/sleep training/toddler/potty training stage and they weren't going back! So, I switched my tactic a little bit and stopped asking and just began praying that my parents would adopt. I prayed for this for three years and it seemed the Lord was going to answer my prayer with a 'no.'

When I was 16 years old, my family and I were living in Uganda, and my mom and I were volunteering at Nsambya Babies Home in Kampala. I had a special baby there named Martha that was "my" baby every time we would go. I developed a love for this baby and I began praying that my parents would specifically adopt her! When she was 8 months old, I went away to a birthday party, only to come back and find out my mom had brought this little baby home. I was ecstatic! My hopes were dashed, though, when I found out that we weren't keeping her. She was terribly sick and we were just going to nurse her back to health and send her on her way. I began some serious praying at that point! My parents had gone from a resounding "NO WAY!" to actually bringing a baby into our home. I knew this had to be it!

The doctor said Martha wouldn't live through that night...but she did! And as my family nursed her back to health, we all fell deep in love with her. And, as you all have guessed by now... we decided to adopt her. Today Janae Martha Ann is a beautiful, smart, thriving almost 11 year old- God's gift to our family. A year later my family adopted another little girl- 2 month old Naomi- from Sanyu Babies Home. Today Adelynn Naomi is a beautiful, smart, thriving almost 9 year old- God's gift to our family!

Janae and Adelynn several years ago.

So, to answer your question, the Lord laid adoption on both of our hearts at young ages. We talked about adoption before we even got married and before we had Isaiah. We feel that all Christians should consider adoption. Maybe not all can- but all should honestly seek the Lord and consider it.

When an opening with International Justice Mission opened up in Uganda (of all places!) and we decided to move our family there, we felt the Lord's hand directing us to adopt while living there. We plan to keep adding to our family both biologically and through adoption in the years to come!

When will you adopt?

We plan to start the process soon after we arrive in Uganda. But adoption is not a simple process! Once we identify the child we feel God wants us to adopt, it may be months before we can bring him/her home with us and obtain legal guardianship. In order to finalize an adoption in Uganda you must live in the country for three years. Since we only plan to be in Uganda one or two years, we will obtain legal guardianship in country and finish up the final adoption once we get back to the States.

Which agency are you going through?

We are doing what is called an "independent adoption." This means that we are not using an agency to complete our adoption. With an independent adoption you handle the details yourself. We will hire our own attorney, work directly with the orphanage or entity we adopt from and will handle all the paperwork, travel details and all the other many details on our own!

We used a wonderful agency called Families Through Adoption to get our home study completed but now that that is done, we are on our own! We are a part of a great Facebook group which helps to answer lots of questions, my parents adopted from Uganda, and we feel that being physically on the ground in Uganda will help us wade through the (at times) confusing process!

How much does it cost to adopt from Uganda?

In general, families spend around $15,000-25,000 to adopt one child from Uganda. Costs vary greatly based on plane flights and whether a family chooses to adopt independently or with an agency. We hope to cut these costs down quite a bit by being in country already and choosing to adopt independently.

How old will your baby be?

The truth is, we have no idea! We do not have a specific baby identified yet. Once we get to Uganda we will begin this process. We are approved for a baby up to one year of age so our child could be anywhere from a couple of months up to 12 months old.

Will you adopt a boy or a girl?

We are actually thinking about adopting both! We are approved to adopt two children and we definitely want to keep that door open should the Lord want us to walk through it. We are ultimately open to the Lord's will concerning every area of our adoption.

What will you name your child(ren)?

This is one question that we know the answer to but cannot share! (Sorry!) =) We have both a boys name and a girls name picked out...but you will just have to keep checking back to find out what they are!

There are so many uncertainties before us and sometimes we feel anxious about it all. We are anxious to meet our baby, anxious to bring him/her home, and anxious to see how the adoption process will go... There are so many unknowns before us but we are comforted in the fact that we know THE ONE who knows everything!

So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Isaiah 41:10

We love to talk about our adoption and to offer advice to anyone interested in adopting from Uganda! Although we are at the beginning stages, we can tell you what we know so far....and we can learn the rest together! Please e-mail us at Drewamhutch@gmail.com if you would like to talk!