Throughout our wait, I'd painfully pull up the Rainbowkids website every so often. Rainbowkids is a website that lists kids from all over the world that are in need of families. These kids are harder to find families for due to their age, number of siblings, or special need. It's a truly heartbreaking site, but unfortunately a necessary one so that these children can find loving homes. In February I logged onto the site like I had done many times over the years, but this time was different. A little face popped up and instantly my heart fluttered. I just had to find out more information about "Baby S". She was being advocated for by Children's Home Society/Lutheran Social Services (CHLSS), the same agency we had used for Rose. I quickly sent off an email to find out more about her story.
Baby S's story was a complicated one. Her prognosis was unknown due to her medical condition. No one knew if she'd walk or talk or hit any of her milestones. We had been approved for minor needs and this was a much more serious condition than we had considered. Baby S was also listed with a different agency and at a different orphanage. In order to move forward, we would have had to start the entire process over again from the beginning. We had invested two years into the adoption process at this point and I had a strong sense that our referral was coming soon so we decided to wait, pray and think about it.
Indeed, just a couple weeks later, we would lay our eyes on our beautiful little Kate and know that we were exactly where we were meant to be. We'd spend the next several months focused first on getting Kate home from Colombia and then adjusting to life as a family of six.
Once the school year started and we settled into our routine, I started thinking about Baby S and wondering if she was still waiting. I checked Rainbowkids again and she was still listed. Ugh. It broke my heart. I posted a little reminder on the Colombia Adoptions Facebook group that there were several kids in need of a family on Rainbowkids hoping that just maybe one of them would be her family.
At the end of October, I looked at Rainbowkids again, hoping that I wouldn't find her little face looking back at me. But she was STILL listed as in need of a family. This time I contacted CHLSS and asked about her status. Shane and I agreed that if she was still waiting for a family, that we would be her family. I learned that they had not gotten any recent updates on the status of Baby S and would check in with the orphanage to find out.
Patience is not my strong suit when it comes to my kids, and after waiting 5 days to hear back, I decided to contact the other agency advocating for Baby S. I knew she was listed with 2 different agencies because her profile was listed twice on Rainbowkids. For some reason, I had it in my head that Hopscotch Adoptions was the other agency advocating for Baby S. This error on my part is what would bring Baby A into our lives.
On October 31, 2018, I googled "Hopscotch Adoptions", found their list for waiting kids, and entered the information necessary to view their waiting child list. If a child has been matched with a family, agencies will typically indicate so on the child's photo. My intent was to find Baby S on Hopscotch's waiting list to see if they had placed her or if she was indeed still waiting for a family. I quickly realized that Hopscotch does not have a Colombia program. What? I could have sworn Hopscotch had listed Baby S on Rainbowkids.
I logged back into Rainbowkids and realized there was another little girl (Baby A) with a similar diagnosis that Hopscotch had listed. For some reason, "Hopscotch" had incorrectly stuck in my memory. I found the correct agency advocating for Baby S and signed up to gain access to their waiting child list. Baby S was still listed there as well. I was convinced that we needed to bring her home ASAP.
The next day I would receive an email from CHLSS. Baby S had been adopted just a couple months prior. She was now home with her new family. We were both sad and relieved as adding another little one so soon after Kate seemed quite overwhelming. We decided that just maybe the Slominski Six was meant to be the Slominski Seven and in a year, we'd start looking for the next little Slominski on Rainbowkids.
On November 10, 2018 an email popped up in my inbox on a Saturday afternoon that would alter the course of our history. It was a follow-up email from Hopscotch Adoptions asking if I had had a chance to visit their Waiting Child site and if I had any questions. And I replied, curious as to which country Baby A was in in South America. There are few other South American countries with solid adoption programs like Colombia. Her response:
"Baby A is in Guyana which, unfortunately, is a very
slow to respond program and provides very little information on waiting
children. We have two families who have inquired about Baby A
and submitted some preliminary information about themselves to the
Guyanese government without having received any type of answer in
return. It’s quite frustrating. If you’d like to throw
your hat in the ring, too, let me know and I’ll tell you what we’d
need."
I thought in my head, "Hmmm, Guyana? Where is Guyana? Slow to respond? It doesn't sound like a reliable adoption program. They don't even provide detailed medical information. How can anyone make an educated decision without adequate information? I'm happy they have families moving forward. Baby A so deserves a family."
I composed an email to Hopscotch saying, "That is so unfortunate that the Guyana program is so slow. But I'm glad that a couple families are trying to proceed. Baby A deserves to find a family quickly. Since you already have a couple families proceeding, we will wait. If those families choose to not proceed in the future, I'd like to know if possible."
I thought that'd be the end of our conversation, but she quickly responded back, "Unfortunately, Baby A has already waited with us for 5 months and nothing has come together for her. I think that any family with a racial make-up that is not solely Caucasian may be considered a good fit for Baby A by her government. The two families whose information has been submitted do not meet this criterion and one family also has their age as an obstacle. So, if you feel that you may want to try and see what happens at any time, let me know."
For some reason, I was compelled to once again respond. I told her a bit about our family, mentioned that I had doubts that they'd find us a better fit for Baby A, and asked what we'd need to do to submit our preliminary information to the Government in Guyana. She quickly responded with a short list of questions and asked for a few photos.
On November 12, 2018, our information was sent down to Guyana. Honestly, I put it out of my mind at that point. If the Guyanese government didn't respond to those two other families, why on earth would they respond to us?
On November 15, just 3 days later, Guyana responded! I received an email from Hopscotch with the subject line "News from Guyana". In disbelief I opened the email to read: "I cannot believe it, but we just heard back from Guyana. They are giving their preliminary approval for you to move forward with the adoption of Baby A and are asking how soon they could expect to review your Guyana home study."
Whoa! Wait. What?!? I was completely shocked! What just happened? Is this our daughter? We decided that we couldn't logically make such a huge decision as this without more information. We had a list of questions that needed to be answered. We wanted updated photos and video. I told this to Hopscotch who replied it was unlikely we would get any more information, but they would ask. Once again, we put it out of our minds. If Guyana couldn't provide us with an update, then we couldn't proceed.
Just 5 days later, we got the news - the Central Authority in Guyana offered to setup a Skype call for us with Baby A and her foster family. This was the first time they had ever offered to Skype with a prospective family! It would be 3 long weeks before the call was finally scheduled.
During this time, we were at mass one Sunday and Father was telling the congregation about a missionary that our church is involved with. I was trying to listen but the kids were getting antsy and it was difficult to hear, but I swore he said the mission was in Guyana. No way, I thought. Did he just say Guyana? And then I swore heard it again. There was a display with photos about the mission that he invited everyone to look at after mass. I had to go look at that display! Luckily it was right on our way to donuts, the kids' favorite part of Sunday morning. As I approached the display, I realized he had not in fact said Guyana, but Ghana. I had just misunderstood (or did I?) As we sat down to enjoy our donuts, Shane says to me, "I thought the priest said the mission was in Guyana. I had to go look at the display." We BOTH heard Guyana!
Hmmm...NO WAY was I not going to ask my questions. It had been 3 weeks just to get the call! I really hoped the call would be more productive than I had been advised.
Finally, my computer started to ring. It was time. And who would I see but sweet Baby A being held by her loving foster mom Jocelyn. She was content sucking away on her pacifier. The Guyanese social worker started the call stating that she was sure I had several questions and that Baby A's foster mom would be happy to answer any questions I had. Praise the Lord!
I went through my list and Jocelyn answered them all with mostly positive responses. Baby A was doing so much better than we had anticipated. While she still has major delays, she is showing progress. I was so thankful and relieved to hear that. I could tell that Baby A was in very good hands. She had been moved out of an institution and into Jocelyn's home mid-November and was eating better and starting to gain head control. During our call, Jocelyn's husband joined the call and mentioned several times how Baby A looked just like me. We ended the call after I couldn't think of anything else to ask. I wish I had had more questions!
Every step of the way I was hesitant, but I have no doubt that God's hand was gently pushing me further and further towards this little one. Too many strange coincidences occurred to lead us on a journey we didn't even realize we were on. In my mind, if we were to adopt again, it would be from Colombia. It's the only country I'd even consider. Yet, here we were. Potentially adopting from a country we knew nothing about, using an agency we knew nothing about, and a child with significant needs which we knew little about. How did we get here? Obviously God knew we were missing a piece of our puzzle and knew exactly where we would find her. His hand has lead us down a path that we would never have chosen for ourselves...and we are so grateful!
And now the paper chase begins to bring Baby A home!
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