Great questions.

Let me please begin by saying, thank you for your feedback and e mails.
I do appreciate it very much, both the support and the questions.
I am not at all offended and I understand the reasons for asking.

I only hope I can express this properly. Here goes as I give it my best shot.

There are many reasons we have chosen to pursue adoption from Africa rather than here in the United States.

If you have been reading for long, you will know this is something we have weighed extremely carefully for several years and are in no way taking this decision lightly. If you know me in person, you are aware that I have been talking about it to every and anyone who will listen for a very long time : ) If you are in either of those 2 categories, you will probably want to quit reading now because I'm boring you to tears.

I do not claim to be an expert in adoption by any means. All I know is from my own personal research and exposure. This is what I believe to be true about domestic adoption.

Infant domestic adoption is also extremely expensive.
There are many, many couples and singles waiting for a birth mother to select them.
Most domestic adoptions of an infant are open adoptions.
Families with 5 children already, are not high on most birth mother's priority list when selecting a home for their baby.
For any baby born in the USA, there will be any number of families ready and willing to take in that infant.
The birth mother has the right to change her mind, and it can take years for these adoptions to be finalized.
It is not an area of huge need in our country. Birth mothers have countless people from which to choose, which is a very good thing!

You may feel like any one of those points are arguable. If you feel compelled to adopt an infant in the United States, you should do that and God bless you!

Adopting children whose parental rights have been terminated from foster care is an area of huge concern with young children in the home, as the majority of kids who are eligible for adoption have been abused/neglected, which is why they were separated from their parents or guardians. In most cases the state will require or strongly recommend that these children are the youngest in the home so that they do not act out inappropriately with younger siblings. The average age of a child who is ready for an adoption that is not considered "high risk" is 9. Dealing with these types of situations is completely different from dealing with the loss and grief issues of children whose parents have died.
Foster adopt is the first avenue we seriously considered and investigated and we have a mound of paperwork and information filed away about the subject from 2 separate adoption agencies.

You can adopt infants from foster care, but we do not feel called to adopt infants. We have been beyond blessed with 5 healthy infants already. We have had our time, and we can understand the desire of those who long deparately for a newborn baby.

We feel strongly called to Ethiopia, Africa. And God is not American.

It is not uncommon at all to accept donations for adoption. It happens all the time in the blog world, in communities, and in churches. People come up with some very interesting and creative fundraising ideas as well. It provides those who want to contribute to a worthwhile cause the opportunity to do so and it's a wonderful way to give to assist a family who is helping out a child. The adopting family will bear the bulk of the financial burden, so people joining together to help with small gifts can lighten that load, which can add up to a tremendous blessing.
For those who know and love you, it is really beautiful. It can communicate to children who may feel abandoned and alone that they are treasured, valued, and worthy. Receiving help weaves a community of love into the tapestry of their life's story, and for little ones who have lost so much, that is a priceless gift.

If someone disagrees with the principle of the cause for whatever reason, of course, they should not participate or donate. I'm fully aware many won't. Some people think our family is too big already : )
Bobby and I will keep plugging away regardless!

We will be taking out a loan, on the enormous bus van we will have to buy to tote a family of 9 ;-) We don't want to end an adoption with 7 children to care for and 2 new loans to pay off.

It is unfortunate that it is so expensive, but we could bang our fist on the table all day long in protest or we can start saving money to save lives......we choose the latter.