The Definition of "TAP" (The Adoption Process)

Thank you all for all your responses! It touches my heart to know that you care about us. I have been finding myself with a phrase that has grown quite common to my lips, "The Adoption Process." (TAP) A person might ask if we are planning on having children and I say, "Why yes we are! We just started the adoption process." I was thinking about this today as I was prepping some i800a forms and I thought, What am I saying? What does this mean, The Adoption Process? It sounded quite elusive. I've decided that in 12 months from now, I will be much more qualified to give an informed definition but for today, July 27th, here is what it means to me. It means seeing every child under the age of 5 and wondering if our child(ren) are on their way into this world yet or are they perhaps already here? TAP means that while I am reviewing hotel reservations and flight information at work, I am really wondering when I am going to be booking 2 tickets to Africa and 3 tickets to Houston. Starting TAP means that every night, instead of grabbing a coffee with friends, I would rather throw the switch on my laptop and work on our dossier, the paper work that the governments and agencies require to run the background and in-home checks and to match you with your child(ren). TAP means taking typing breaks to relieve your writer's cramp from the past 14 pages of forms you have been filling out. The Adoption Process means laughing and dreaming of your coming family.

Why Kamp Plus One?

Welcome to Kamp Plus One, a link between you and our journey to finding our child. We started our journey long before either of us ever met each other, although we see that this is the journey God laid out since the very beginning. Since I was a little girl, I have wanted to have a family including adopted children. Bryan was a babysitter for his adopted cousins from South Korea whom he adores. When I was 18 years old, my doctor was looking at my knees as I tore my cartilage when she discovered what later would be diagnosed a ovarian cancer. The tumor was taken care of with surgery and while the doctors were optimistic at the time, I would find out that there was a lot of scarring that could present difficulties in conceiving naturally. When Bryan and I met, we discussed this possibility and decided that God has placed so many wonderful children on this earth, that we would want to adopt some of them. We prayed about it and in November of 2010, we started talking about looking into the process and speaking with friends and family about international adoption. Unbeknownst to us, we were already pregnant! Right after the new year, I started feeling sick. A visit to the doctor would reveal that we were having a miscarriage. While it was very difficult, it gave us hope that we might be able to conceive. During the struggle, we realized that all life is a true and beautiful miracle. We took to our knees before God and with the support of Luke and Ashley Cheatham, and family, we grieved the loss of our pregnancy but we also asked God what was His plan for our future. A few months later, during a church service, Bryan leaned over to me to show me something that I had already circled in my bulletin, a discussion panel on adoption. We prayed before going in that God would lead us and help answer some of the questions still lingering in our minds. He answered them all as we sat and listened to both the hardships of being adopted and the joys of being part of a forever family. We were thrilled! We continued to pray and have others pray with us. Finally, Bryan's Aunt Jan went to the Orphan Summit 2011 in Tennessee where she gathered as many resources for us as any one human could. She sent us the contacts of a couple who happen to go to our church and lead an adoption group. We met with this terrific couple and asked some questions specific to Texas and their experience. This conversation was the last green light God gave us to start the process. We chose Bethany Christian Services to help us with our Ethiopian adoption of a boy or girl under the age of 3. Here we are, the first part of the application is in and the mounds of completed paperwork grow by the day. We know this will be a long process but it is our hope that you will pray for us and pray for protection over our child while we keep you updated with developments. Please feel free to comment, call, email, pray and know that we thank you for your part in this journey!