Here is our Adoption Journey so far…
We are adopting River (age 8 and her little sister, Sadie (age 6) from Liberia, Africa.
These 2 precious kids will complete our family of 7.
We chose Liberia because we are impressed by Liberia’s resilience and progress as a war torn country that is healing from so much. Liberia works hard to allow adoptions when necessary and to reunite families whenever possible. We are grateful Liberia is allowing us to adopt our daughters, and hopeful as we watch Liberia grow as a country.
We started this journey in April of 2022.
In May of 2023, with the help of our friends and family, church, community, and organizations like Noonday Collection, Phill the Box, Funds2Orgs, and Adopt Together, we reached our fundraising goals to make our adoption possible. At that time, we anticipated our Liberian daughters would be joining our family in 3-6 months time.
We did not get any solid updates for months, until November of 2023, when adoptions for multiple agencies, including our agency, were suspended in Liberia.
There are multiple political conflicts that brought adoptions to a halt in November of 2023. Although these political conflicts put Liberian children at risk, the layers of the conflicts are multifaceted and complicated beyond the adoption process itself.
At this time, there are no adoptions (domestic or international) progressing in Liberian until these political conflicts are resolved. This was a decision made by Liberian governmental leadership.
In February of 2024, we decided to travel to Liberia as a family and do some real-time fact finding on what barriers prevent our family from being together.
We have met with multiple Liberian government officials and multiple individuals who play a role in working in adoptions here. We have spoken with multiple US congressional offices, and have reached out to anyone in the adoption realm that can give insight and advice in a way forward for our children. We continue to hope the US embassy in Liberia will assist us, but have not been able to get a meeting with them to discuss our concerns.
We have visited our children’s orphanage multiple times a week. We have done multiple fundraisers to keep the doors of our daughters’ orphanage open, keep the children’s needs met, and support the staff that cares for them. We have physically done all we can to assist the orphanage in maintaining quality, safety and health for the children. We have discussed our case with experts near and far.
We have been in Liberia for over 3 months, and are sadly running out of funds to remain here.
We fear if we leave, our encouragement and our persistence to represent American families will be lost with our departure. We fear if we leave, the support we have recruited for the kids here will fade. We fear if we leave, the Liberian government will be less motivated to remember our children’s case.
Thanks to each of you and the words of encouragement, financial donations, textile donations and actions of noonday purchasing power to move mountains this past year. We hope you will help us push one more mountain of money out of our way to complete our family.
We continue to humbly ask for any assistance that can be found to support our family in this quest for safety for more than just our 2 Liberian daughters, but a quest to provide a safe way home for them and their peers that wait in orphanages in Liberia.
https://adopt100morehappykids.wordpress.com/2023/02/05/adopt-from-liberia-day-314-the-weight-of-the-wait-and-the-fees-for-their-freedom/
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If I call you one of my elephants, will you still be my friend? Adopt from Liberia. Day 307.
I’ve decided my spirit animal is an elephant.
Because adoptive mommas need an elephant herd…
I want my kids on the same continent. We are getting close. The end is the hardest part. It becomes overwhelming and scary and exciting and exhausting. And as everything seems to be going “right”, everything feels so out of control. Reminds me of labor with Little, who is now 6 years old. (“Little” is my 3rd daughter’s nickname). Daughter number 1 is “Original” and daughter number 2 is “Middle”..
Transition….
Transition in natural childbirth is intense to say the least. I remember it so clearly when my 3rd daughter was born. I chose natural childbirth with her. It was a personal choice, for no particular reason other than I did not like the big needle in my back the first go around.
Here is what happened:
I don’t want to minimize how hard natural childbirth is. Especially if you don’t have time to prepare for it. For others it can happen so fast, it’s not really a “choice”. For me, it was a choice. And as those last few moments occurred, I remember them more clearly than I remember anything else.
We had to induce at 37 weeks because of my escalating blood pressure. 12 + hours or so of labor later, no baby. My doctor said I was at “4” and she was going to go home and take a shower and come back and be with me all night if that’s what we needed. We had been at this for several hours already. It was 4:30pm. My 2 dear friends (Devon and Audrey) were with me the whole 12+ hours, and Audrey also went home to check on her kids and get ready for a long night of labor. Devon told Jeremy to try to take a nap and she sat with me and held my hand and continued to reassure me I was doing good, and that everything was going beautifully. Didn’t feel beautiful. But Devon is someone I trust, and my trust that day was hard to obtain.
Then there was that moment of panic. That moment of me feeling like I was staring down this long dark corridor of apprehensive unknowns.
Transition.
I did childbirth before, but not naturally. I’m not a panicky person. Exactly the opposite. The bigger the crisis, the calmer I tend to be. But I had a moment of panic. I pushed it back, prayed for God to just be present and protect “Little” through this next part. The darker part in me that needed to heal. Had I known entering into natural childbirth transition would pull out all kinds of things in me I didn’t know needed healing, I would have not gone down that road. The darker parts in me that needed to learn I could trust and depend on people, especially Jeremy, needed to be brought into some kind of light. The part in my heart that needed to know that although I may feel alone in that dark corridor of apprehensive unknown, alone is a choice. I asked for everyone to wake up and everyone to come back. I told my dear friend, Devon, to wake Jeremy up because I can’t do this next part without him. To call Audrey and get the nurse and doctor back. So Devon listened and left Jeremy and I alone in our delivery room while she circled my resources. As Jeremy reassured me he knew what to do if this baby showed up before everyone else made it back. We are good, he said. You are doing great. It’s fine. Everything is fine. We get to meet our next daughter soon. I’ve been here for this part before. You are fine. Keep going.
This calm surrender and confidence washed over me. “Little” was born just 18 minutes later. My doctor barely had on gloves as she ran to deliver my daughter.
Transition complete. Trust achieved.
Since then, I’ve been different. I’ve been healed from things I may never fully understand. One thing, I am not alone unless I choose to be. God is there. He sends extra people, too. He just waits for us to choose to ask Him and to ask them.
Now, I ask without fear or reservation. Today, I’m calling my friends my “elephants”.
Why elephants?
I’ve decided my spirit animal is an elephant.
Because adoptive mommas need an elephant herd…
When an elephant gives birth in the wild, she is surrounded by a herd of 60 other elephants. These 60 protect her during transition and the time period after birth where she and her baby are vulnerable to predators. The trumpet and stomp as they circle around the mother delivering as they face out to protect her, watching for attacks, and creating a safe space circle for her to get through this next part. Elephants stand shoulder to shoulder in a posture of strength and solidarity. They celebrate after the birth by trying to touch the baby with their snouts and flapping their ears and stomping their feet. Sounds like my people. Sounds like my herd.
I think I have more than 60 “elephants” surrounding me as we near “transition” during adoption. We are nearing the end of this journey, and I think my dear friend, Devon Crews describes adoption transition best.
I’ve decided my spirit animal is an elephant.
Because adoptive mommas need an elephant herd…
Words from Devon in italics the night before she left to adopt her 2 Liberian born children.
It’s 2245 (10:45 pm) the night before I leave, and I’m still not packed.
My kids are fighting bedtime and I’m struggling to make them go to bed as we soak up this last night as a family of 5.
Emotions are high. Tears are frequent. “I’m not excited, not at all” has been the chant of my middle about my leaving tomorrow. The youngest is primarily angry that I’m leaving and acting accordingly. The oldest is quiet, keeping to herself. I have tried to make time for everyone and hold them all together.
Preparing for a trip like this takes months. Highly recommend making a detailed to do list at least 2 months out. I marked the last thing off that list today with the exception of two things that I chose to postpone until after I’m home.
All that’s left is to pack my suitcase. I’ve had the kids suitcases packed for weeks, and was full of eager anticipation as I chose what to bring for them. In addition to clothes and shoes in varies sizes, there are toys, and art supplies, and things to occupy our time in Monrovia. There are vitamins, and medicines, and toiletries and every thing I could think of they might need. Even though they are 13 and 7, these are our newborn weeks. This is Erikson’s stage of trust vs mistrust and it is important to me to make sure I have what’s needed to meet their needs on hand.
Packing their suitcase was exciting, and happy ….
Packing mine is sad and overwhelming. Leaving home is hard. Leaving my children is hard. Leaving the farm and my parents is hard. Leaving my best friend and love is hard. There is labor in adoption too and this is transition. This is the time – when homebirthing my daughters, that my support people had to remind me to breathe and tell me I could keep going when I wanted it all to just stop. It hurts and I don’t want to hurt anymore. It’s heavy and I’m tired. The pressure is too much and is there another way through this?
I know there’s not. I know I need to take this one breath at a time. One moment at a time. One tear-filled hug at a time. One “do you really have to go mommy?” at a time, and breathe.
And I need to pack my suitcase and get ready for delivery.
I really can’t wait to meet my kids.
I’ve decided my spirit animal is an elephant.
Because adoptive mommas need an elephant herd…
As a side note, I sought out my new friend, Mallory Adkison, who is at the beginning stages of her Liberian adoption and have totally “elephant style” herded her towards fast fundraising opportunities and coached her with lots of trumpeting and stomping to get her going quickly in the direction of her baby in Liberia. We don’t know who her child is. We do know where they are. And, based on what we know about Liberia, we need to hurry. We know what Liberian orphans face.
It is an honor and a privilege to be a part of Mallory’s “elephant circle” this past month as we kickstarted her fundraising with a Noonday trunk show.
Thank you for being a member of my elephant herd of people who have encircled me. You encompass the protective herd that celebrates life, guards against death, and sees transition to its completion.
Thank you, to all my elephants, who are hovering close to me and preparing to circle, as we walk through this next part.
and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
Isaiah 58:10
Our story so far….Day 287. Adopt from Liberia.
January 10, 2023Adopt100more
People are good, with good intentions and there will always be enough good intentions for just one more kid to be adopted, no matter what the cost.
Adoption…some of these words come to mind for those considering adoption.
Costly, Chaotic, Traumatic, Distant, Dangerous, Impossible, Overwhelming, Heartbreaking, Risky
When I think of adoption, I have different words….
Healing, Miraculous, Amazing, Unlikely, Happy, Heroic, Free, Reachable
People are good… with good intentions, and there will always be enough good intentions for just one more kid to be adopted, no matter what the cost.
I really believe that statement. Because I’ve seen it 23 times. And we have 6 pending completions.
When did I become convinced of this truth?
I spent my 18th birthday in Eastern Europe on a humanitarian aid project to assist Romanian orphans. My role on the trip as a student was to represent my high school student body, and come home and speak for the orphans I met. Our trip leader was Jim Savley, founder of Small World Adoption Agency.
I met a toddler with a scar on her head running around an orphanage happy and healthy. She was bald, which is why the scar showed. I was bald, too, until I was almost 2 years old. A fact my family jokes about as they tried to get bows and headbands on me, which I undoubtedly refused.
She caught my eye because she looked like me. It was a commonality. When I picked her up to take a picture with me, the scar struck me. The caregivers explained she was born, thrown into a dumpster, and saved by a mama dog who apparently nursed her for up to 3 days based on her condition when she was found. She survived easily after a short hospital stay and was brought to the orphanage. The bite wound was probably from the dog pulling her out.
As I sat her down and she toddled back to her friends, no mother, no prospects, I considered putting her in my backpack. She would have fit! I could have emptied every bit of my teenage world out and just replaced it with her, this sweet little girl, happy, healthy and waiting. I thought of how we had an extra bedroom at my house and I had a job and could afford to care for her. Maybe college could wait. Maybe it would work. How could I leave her in a place with caregivers battling a 25-1 ratio to care for babies.
Obviously not legal, and not practical. But my connection to her ran deep. People are good. The adults that could parent her must not know that she is here. They must not know her possibilities are a secret behind the walls of this orphanage,
I took my job to speak for her and her peers seriously. It was like a volcano in my mind of potential ideas and solutions as my young heart weighed the problem against the solutions. We need more families adopting.
My husband and I adopted our firstborn child in 2013. Adoption was always a part of our “plan A” and as we pursued her adoption a decade ago, we met a lot of families on similar journeys.
Cost is the number 1 barrier holding families back from the pursuit of adoption.
But people are good, with good intentions and I am convinced that there will always be enough good intentions for just one more kid to be adopted.
I decided to make it my “bucket list” to help 100 kids complete their adoption. We sold a fundraising T-shirt for our adoption and it said on the back “Helping 1 Home”. And I thought, “Why not 100?”
People give more when they can connect to the recipient. Like me, with the little girl with a bald head, who reminded me of pictures of myself at her age. People connect with numbers and stories. Families remember our help, and they know their number, and we always reach for them when we join a new adoption journey in progress. It’s a lot of fun to say to them “number 22” is almost home. They are our foundation. And they are all thriving.
As of today, we have helped 23 kids complete their adoption. Most had huge fundraising goals. We are adopting 2 daughters from Liberia now, and are helping 2 other families who are at the first phases in their Liberia adoption journey. We have one family pursuing domestic adoption and one family battling adoption from the foster care system. So, 6 kids have pending adoptions. We work on all of them weekly. 3 of those families have AdoptTogether profiles.
We began our adoption process for our 2 Liberian daughters 287 days ago. Our adoption costs are estimated at $75,000. Here are our current fundraising goals and progress.
1. Adopt Together Crowdfunding
$ 8,357.22
http://adopttogether.org/families/the-smith-s
2. Give Send Go Crowdfunding
$ 1,546.35
https://givesendgo.com/G37XF?utm_source=sharelink&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=G37XF
3. Funds 2 orgs shoe drive
$ 2,058.00
https://funds2orgs.com/
4. Gift of Adoption grant (pending)
$7000.00
5. Noonday Ambassador Sales by Ivonne (included in Adopt together amount ($1200).
https://ivonneliebenberg.noondaycollection.com
6. Noonday Ambassador Sales by Me
$ 580.09
https://rachelsmith.noondaycollection.com
7. Phill the Box clothing and Textile Drive
$ 1,490.40
https://phillthebox.com
8. Fundfactory Ink and toner Cartridges drive
$19.15
http://www.fundingfactory.com/goal/Rivers1wayticket
9. Bonfire merchandise
$ 264.07
Smith Adoption Bonfire Merchandise Store
10. Private cash donations
$1300.00
For the Godfrey family, here is there adopttogether profile. We have done Noonday shows for them as well.
https://adopttogether.herokuapp.com/families/the-godfreys
For the Adkison family, here is their adopttogether profile.
http://adopttogether.org/families/the-adkisons
Here is the link to the Adkison family Facebook group and shopping link for their Noonday show:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/841484320293641/?ref=share&mibextid=S66gvF
https://bit.ly/adkisonadoptionnoonday
We chose Liberia, because in 2016, my dear friend, Devon, had her heart set on Blessing, a 6 year old little girl, waiting for a family in Liberia. Liberia was closed to adoptions, and I introduced her to Jim Savley, founder of Small World Adoption Agency, who had taken me to Eastern Europe in 1998, and sparked an interest in adoption facilitation, that has now been replaced as more of a volcanic passion for adoption facilitation. Mr. Savley said it would take a long time, but he would pursue every open door and window he could find to create a program in Liberia for adoption. It took 7 years to get Blessing home. She is thriving today in Tennessee. It took 5 years to get a smooth program in Liberia, and nearly 50 children completed their adoption before Blessing, and many other after.
We are waiting on Liberia to approve our adoption, which could occur any day. Then, we will travel 2 months following that approval. We started our Liberian adoption pursuit 287 days ago. We have fundraised $22,615.28 from other people. People with good intentions.
We are so grateful for adopttogether and wish we would have found you sooner!
Day 279. Adopt from Liberia. Noonday for others.
January 2, 2023Adopt100more
This is one of those important milestones I had hoped for. That chapter in our adoption where we are just waiting and winding down our fundraising to the reachable range. We lack just $12k out of $75k. Feels like nothing after such a huge amount of progress over the last 279 days.
We have so many fundraising seeds planted and we trust they will continue to grow and that you, our group of supporters, continue to throw your extra $30 or so our way when you can. We are grateful for the ink cartridges and clothing and shoes donated. We are grateful for the noonday purchases that fuel 2 purposes of peace (adoption and fair trade in developing countries).
We have faith and confidence that our fundraising efforts are in motion and are excited to help another family that is at their beginning phases of adopting from Liberia.
We have a Noonday show going for them on Facebook and it’s already doing well. It’s a nice distraction from the empty waiting we are doing.
We mailed a package to River and Sadie (our 2 littles waiting in Liberia) and they should have it in their hands tomorrow. Mailing things internationally is complicated and full of things we aren’t used to.
We hope to hear from Liberia soon. Our Dossier was mailed to them 46 days ago. So it has probably been on someone’s desk for about a month. Averages on this vary widely. Anywhere from 1 week to 4 months to get approved, plus 2 more months to get court dates and then schedule travel.
So the deafening wait on “yes, you may proceed” is broken up by the Adkison adoption journey.
Click here to shop and support Noonday and this sweet couple adopting:
https://bit.ly/adkisonadoptionnoonday
Today for our Noonday post for the Adkison family, I told Sham’s story. He is a Noonday artisan in India who is a leader in his community working to adjust the public opinion of women, their worth and their career possibilities. He is a father of 3 little girls and he and his wife are committed to carving out a corner for their community to reach ours in commerce and fair trade. I’m so inspired by Sham’s example amidst violence and poverty and lack of opportunity for women in India. He stands as a force for good, one handmade product at a time.
Thanks for being here today to listen.:)
Keep…. ….going.
https://adopt100morehappykids.wordpress.com/2022/12/13/day-259-adopt-from-liberia-christmas-songs/
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