Decisions, decisions...

Although it took months to get to the decision to adopt, Mary and I were eager to proceed now that we had made the decision.  Mary and I both had passion to adopt internationally, specifically from an orphanage.  We also knew that we both wanted to adopt a younger sister for Sarah.  To try to get started quickly, Mary and I have been working overtime researching the process, risks, ethical concerns, and many decisions you face doing an international adoption.  Among the many questions we have been coming to terms with are

• Why not domestic adoption?
  
• What ethical implications are there in international adoption?
• What can we do to make sure we are comfortable with the ethics of our adoption?
  
• What country to adopt from?
• What agency to choose?
• What, if any, types of special needs or concerns are we comfortable with?

Many of these questions are intertwined with each other and we want to make sure we balance the speed that we want to proceed with knowing that we are making choices that we won't have regrets about.