Why are you adopting a girl?

This post is an answer to the same two questions that people keep asking Brian and I about the child we are adopting from Ethiopia. Some of you may already know but I thought I should go ahead and clear up any confusion on the matter. :)

-Are you adopting a boy or girl? Why?
-How old will he or she be? Why?

We are adopting a little girl. Why are we adopting a girl and not a boy? When we decided to adopt we were completely open to adopting a boy or a girl and to be honest, are still open to either gender. However, our living situation dictates differently. We live in a 2 bedroom house. Our daughter sleeps in one room and we sleep in the other. Since our adopted child will be sharing a room with our daughter, our agency requires that we adopt a child of the same gender as our biological child. I get it. Besides, now that I think about it, we already have tons of girl clothes and toys.

Our age parameters for our daughter are 0-2 years old. However, that 2 years goes all the way up to 35 months (just shy of 3 years old). We were open to adopting a child younger than Isabel. We wanted her to continue to be the oldest child and maintain the birth order that we have. Agencies and social workers recommend it and even require it. So, our agency says that there must be 12 months difference between Isabel and our adopted daughter.

So, there you go! However, we do not know how old our daughter will be when we get a referral for her....we just know that she will be somewhere between 0-35 months. :) Yay! Hopefully we will be ready to turn in our dossier soon so we can get on the waitlist too!!


Much love,