Confessions of a Waiting Mommy...

My name is Maggie. I’m a people-loving Texas girl who loves spending my days bargain shopping and planting flowers. My husband, Isaac, is a sports-loving Georgia boy who can play any musical instrument you put in front of him. We just celebrated our 5 year anniversary and can’t imagine life without each other. We are both on staff at a church we love dearly and couldn’t be more thankful for the season of life we’re in.

Last year, we began talking about expanding our family. We knew we were becoming ready to be parents someday soon, but when we thought about starting our family with a biological child, there was a disconnect. We were ready to be parents, but not ready to have a baby. That made absolutely no sense to us but we couldn't ignore it.

In April 2013, after much prayer and a trip to the beautiful and amazing country of Haiti, we decided to make adoption the basis of our family growth and begin the process of adopting a baby from the Caribbean! We could not have been more excited! ... and also terrified, very terrified. Let's be honest. 

A few months later in August 2013, we began working with some amazing people in St. Vincent & the Grenadines (SVG) to start the private adoption process. We filled out the application, completed our home study, and began compiling our documents. We were on our way to becoming a family of 3! It was just about this time that we learned about the Universal Accreditation Act (UAA) which was signed into effect to essentially ban private international adoptions as of July 14, 2014. We knew we would most likely not have our adoption completed by then so we decided to end the private adoption route. We were heartbroken and confused. 

Rewind 7 months...

In April, when we first decided to adopt from the Caribbean, we contacted Creative Adoptions, Inc., an agency that works in SVG, Dominica, and now St. Lucia. I asked if they could give me some information regarding adoption in SVG but I let them know we were going the private route and that we would not be working with them. They told us that they have a waiting list to be able to apply and asked if we wanted to be on it anyway. We said no. Bad move, Schades.

Fast forward 7 months...

In November, following the UAA discovery, we were sad and confused and had no clue what to do next. It was just about that time that Creative Adoptions, Inc. contacted us and said, "Congratulations! You're at the top of our waiting list and you are now able to apply for your adoption!" Say what!? Remember how I so confidently assured them that we did not want to be on their list because we had it all figured out and knew it was going to work perfectly according to our plan?! Well thank goodness for divine intervention! We happily accepted and began round 2 of adoption applications! 

After 5 months of compiling documents, waiting on paperwork, calling the government, waiting on paperwork, visiting the doctor, waiting on paperwork, getting background checks, oh and also waiting on more paperwork, we were finally placed on the official waiting list! We are currently number 11 and are hoping to be matched with a child (or children…I’m praying for twins, don’t tell my husband) within the next year.

Thanks for joining me on my journey to motherhood!