Sunday, March 13, 2011

Numbers...

I like to watch the "all races" section of our adoption facilitattorney's (I'll call them that because they're neither agent nor facilitator, but rather a hybrid of the two mixed with attorney...) website. The numbers are astounding to me... in more ways than one. Let me break it down to show you some things I've noticed:

1. On February 2nd, I counted all of the couples adopting through our facilitattorney and there were more than 260 families waiting to be matched. Only 13 of them were willing to accept all races. This bothers me in some ways, and also makes me feel such a strong connection with these 13 couples, even though I don't know them. Why? Because I am able to follow their journey by watching their pictures on this website. I don't have any contact with them (save one couple who blog), and yet, I feel like I'm following their adoption journey just the same.

2. Two weeks ago, the "all races" group was down to 8 waiting families. Just 8! I was so pleased that families were getting matched.

3. Today, there are 11 couples on the list... and none of them are new faces. That means that in the last couple weeks, 3 families have experienced some sort of disruption, whether their own decision or that of the first family. This breaks my heart...

4. Of the 11 couples on the list right now, 4 couples have been waiting since we were matched one year ago today. And a couple others were added to the list not long after that.

Dear families who are waiting to be matched with that special baby who will make your life bloom:

I am your silent cheerleader. You probably don't know I exist. You probably feel so alone and miserable in your wait. You probably feel down about the process in general, or maybe you've experienced a disruption and feel the worst kind of down right now.

I am rooting for you all. Every time one of your faces disappears from the list, I am filled with hope and excitement for you, and I pray I don't see your face back on the list until you put it there for your next little one.

I am sending you good vibes; wishing you well; putting all my hope out there for you. I truly hope you special people will have your precious one SOON!

Until then, I'll keep watching and counting.

2 comments:

Jacksmom said...

You're so sweet!

Kelly said...

I do the same thing with our agency's website. Though they don't track what who is willing to accept, I do check in often to see who is still waiting and who is gone. I pray for these couples, even though we've never met.