New Car and Baby Update

Hi All,

Well, we need to replace our Honda Accord. It has 105,000 miles and needs over $5,000 of work. We are not thrilled about this as we were not planning to buy a new car anytime soon. We are looking to buy a used Toyota Camry, probably a 2005 0r 2006. Evidently the Camry is the most adapted vehicle in the U.S. We are looking at cars on Saturday morning while our van gets worked on. We are both really bummed about this b/c we were hoping to keep the Accord for another 5+ years. It is paid off and it has been a good car for us but we just can't justify putting all that $ into a car that has such high miledge and is 10 years old.

Things have also changed on the adoption front. As most of you know, we are no longer adopting from Vietnam. I researched other potential countries to adopt from but it became very limited as far as options. We looked into Russia, The Philippines, Taiwan and Bulgaria but the only option out of all those countries was Bulgaria. We could of adopted a special needs child from Russia and a few other counties but we feel that my disability is enough for us to handle at this point in our lives. I know that there are a lot of parents with disabilities that have adopted children with disabilities and I totally admire that. However, I know what my limits are. Frankly I found it very frustrating dealing with the ignorance of other countries views on disability. Many countries are decades behind us on disability issues. Apparently many people with disabilities in Russia are rarely seen in public. They can't fathom that someone like me works full-time, is married, drives and actually wants to be a parent. They also don't believe in my ability to parent, which infuriates me beyond words. I got so frustrated by the blatant discrimination I have experienced on the international adoption journey and decided to pursue other options.

I found a really neat agency in Georgia called Valley of Hope that is essentially a consulting organization for adoption. I've also explained it like a headhunter for adoption. So, I found this organization and spoke to the Director and she is SO nice. They only do domestic adoptions in the 48 continental U.S. and they work with multiple adoption agencies in 48 states. We were initially not interested in domestic adoption because we feared that it would take us too long to get chosen by a birth mother. However, when I spoke to Erin @ Valley of Hope she indicated that her last four placements were agency picks as opposed to birth mother picks. This is a plus for us b/c we don't have to worry about never being picked by a birth mother that wants "perfect parents." When I talked to Erin on the phone and explained my specific situation she was so encouraging which was the total opposite response I received from most agencies I dealt with on the international adoption front. Erin also has some knowledge about disability b/c her husband's business partner is a quadriplegic. So, it is looking like we will be adopting domestically and our child will most likely be an infant. We will keep everyone posted as things progress.