Our Story

I've started this as a way to keep family and friends updated on our adoption, and the lengthy process involved. I hope to have this "blog thing" figured out, so that when we travel to Kazakhstan to meet our child, I can post daily pictures and journal entries. I have found posts from other families who have shared their Kazakhstan experience to be an invaluable source of information and inspiration.

Dave and I met on a blind date, and were married 1 year later, on March 3, 2001. We both always wanted to have a family. After years of trying numerous expensive fertility medications, undergoing countless invasive tests and painful medical procedures, we started looking into adoption.

I researched the various adoption agencies in Manitoba. We were told it could take up to 12 years for a domestic adoption, so we began to focus our research on international adoptions.

I requested an information package from CAFAC (Canadian Advocates for the Adoption of Children). They are inter-country adoption specialists, with offices in Manitoba and Alberta. They were hosting an educational seminar on international adoption the following month, so we registered to attend. The information presented at the seminar was overwhelming at times. International adoption is definately not something to pursue without careful consideration of all that is involved in the process. At the end of the second day, there was a parent panel - four couples and their children from four different countries. After hearing their stories, they joined us for supper. Dave and I had been considering adopting form Kazakhstan, and were lucky enough to sit with a couple who had adopted a boy and a girl from Kazakhstan. The children (who were now school age) were beautiful, intelligent and happy. After asking the parents as many questions as we could think of about their experience, travel, and stay in the country, we had a long discussion about our feelings regarding adoption. It was something we both had a strong desire to pursue, so on November 5, 2006, we signed the papers to register with CAFAC and begin our adoption journey.