Trying to help research

I have a girlfriend who had been diagnosed with Cancer and had to have surgery which has left her infertile and unable to every have children.
We started talking about adoption and she let me know it is somethign she is interested in but with treatments and such that right now she is a little too emotional and such to even start the research.

I would like to start a packlet of information for her. The basics to the extreme and perhaps even some of you can share your direct story (if you already have it written out). I guess I just need help in where to even begin. I put adoption in google and just got overwhelmed.

Re: Trying to help research

Hi there : )

I think the best way to start is on the internet. I know there is alot of information out there but the more information read I think better the decision made.

For us the first step in our decision was either domestic or international. And we chose international - China. It is really a personal choice on whether to chose international or domestic but the short story of it for us was we were not comfortable with the "open" adoption policies for domestic as well as no guarentee on when and if you will be chosen to recieve a child.

For international, you will need to find a country you are comfortable with and there are a multitude of countries that allow international adoption. If they have a country in mind, do a search and a bunch of agencies will pop up. Any of the agency websites will be able to tell you the requirements and prices for that country as well as the wait time for referral. I know alot of the countries have quadrupled their wait times so that also needs to be taken into consideration.

In the very beginning I visited adoption.com alot as they have alot of articles to view on both domestic and international.

We chose Childrens Hope International for our agency. They only do international adoption and represent a few different countries. They have all the requirements on their website. I was very happy with them through every step of the process and would recommend them to anyone. I also think a few of the girls here used New Beginnings.

Good luck and if you have anything specific you need to know, please FM me.

Thanks