Our Adoption Story...by Trace

By Trace Jones

Our adoption journey is so personal, so emotional, that we’ve never really talked too much about it in an open forum.  Maybe this will help others as they walk down their own journey, no matter what it may be.

Randee has three adopted sisters.  I’ve known since before college that I would some day be an adoptive parent.  We talked about it in the early months and years of our marriage.  It’s definitely something that we would do, someday...

When we got married in November of 2002, we were super careful NOT to get pregnant.  Coming from families with moms that had no problems getting pregnant and had their first children within a year of being married, we knew that we wanted a couple of years before diving into parenthood, with four kids, potty training, little league, and dance recitals.

Eight long years later we’re still waiting.  Back in 2006 we decided to go in for infertility testing and treatment.  This culminated in a round of IVF in the summer of 2009 that did result in pregnancy.  We lost the baby a couple of short weeks later.

I’d love to say that we held on, never questioned our faith, and just “knew” everything was going to be alright.  We didn’t.  We questioned our decisions, God’s provision, the Bible, and each other.  It was rough.  Regardless, we did know that God was there and that He loved us.

Still, life was hard.  After spending years in prayer and treatment, and tens of thousands of dollars, our family still consisted of two, and we had no hope of growing our family.  We had talked about adoption a few times after the miscarriage, but it kind of felt like we were trying to fill the void of our loss with the prospect of adoption, and it just didn’t feel right.

I remember it well.  We went to church on a late winter day in February.  I don’t remember what the pastor preached on, but they had ministry time at the front for those who wanted prayer.  I wanted to go forward, but Randee was hesitant.  I thought we needed help, but Randee felt embarrassed.  I have to admit, I got mad.  Yes, the great spiritual juggernaut that I am, I stormed out of the church after it was over, with Randee in tow.

Thank God that He doesn’t leave us in our childish tantrums!  When we got home, I plopped on the couch and turned on Sports Center.  That’s when our lives changed.  On TV there was a special about a high school student in Minnesota that was the quarterback of the defending state football champions.  The interesting thing about it was that he was adopted from an orphanage in Russia (when he was 10 years old I believe).

Interesting indeed!  While I was watching the special, Randee was sitting on the edge of the couch (remember that we were still mad at each other).  Half way through the special Randee disappears for an hour into the back room.  I’m thinking about how to broach the subject of adoption again, and she’s online researching inter-country adoption.  Very interesting!

We talked, prayed, talked some more, prayed some more, talked to friends that have adopted internationally, researched adoption agencies, continued to pray, and then made the plunge to put in an application to adopt from Russia!

We were excited!  We went to a seminar, got some training, and started connecting with more folks that have adopted internationally.  We felt good about our decision, but not totally at peace.  What was the matter?

Around this time a woman from the states shipped her adopted son back to Russia, his homeland.  Can you imagine?  She sent him on a plane, with a note, by himself, back to Russia.  It was a media firestorm.  There was talk about the Russian government shutting down the Russia adoption program.

Then, BOOM, it hit us.  Ethiopia!  God was calling us to adopt from Ethiopia!  Let’s face it, one of the reasons we picked Russia is because the child(ren) we adopted could probably pass as our biological offspring.  But the more we thought and prayed about Ethiopia, the more we fell in love with it.

Our heart is there, in Africa.  We love the continent, and we love the people.  Years ago I had told Randee that someday I would adopt an African baby… could this be the time?

Alas, it is the time!  We are chomping at the bit to bring our little bundle of joy home!  We’ve been doing paperwork on top of paperwork, we’ve been fundraising, we’ve been preparing, and now we’re on the waiting list to be matched with a child.

That means that in as early as the middle of next year we can meet him for the first time!  And then a month or two later we can bring him home!  Oh what a wonderful day that will be!