From the very beginning of our relationship, Tim and I agreed we both wanted to have children one way or another. After a few years of interstate adventures together, we tied the knot and officially decided to grow our family. Knowing that hundreds of thousands of children do not have stable homes and need families, we have decided to adopt.
We’re thrilled now to be on this path to providing a loving home for children who don’t currently have one. We’ve decided to adopt children from Bulgaria, for several reasons. First, it’s a Hague Convention country, which means systems are in place to ensure the adoptions are ethical and not contributing to the worldwide problem of child trafficking, and that’s extremely important to us. We’re drawn to Eastern Europe in part because Tim spent some time working for an orphanage in Eastern Europe; plus Ali’s heritage is from that part of the world. The more research we did on Bulgarian adoptions, the more it felt we were on the right path.
There are so many questions when it comes to adoption! We’re happy to talk it through with anyone who wants the details, but the short version is this:
It typically takes two to three years to adopt from Bulgaria, although it can move faster for families adopting sibling groups, which we hope to do. We have registered with an incredible agency that will help us throughout the process and also provides post-adoption community for adoptees and adoptive families. The next step is a home study, and once that is done, we’ll be working on our dossier–the extremely thick stack of paperwork that will be submitted to the Bulgarian government to help them pair us with children. The initial expenses will add up quickly, so we’re starting fundraising now!
The entire process will cost between $30,000 and $50,000. We’re working hard to save, fundraise, and apply for grants to be sure we can pay each large invoice as it comes in. Several of you have asked us to let you know if we got to this stage so you could help too. We are so grateful for donations of any amount, any time between now and 2020! If you'd like to know about other ways to support (events, sales, etc.), please visit www.shawfamilyadoption.wordpress.com.
Thank you!
Much love,
Ali & Tim
