Long before we ever said I do before family and friends, we knew we’d always keep our heart open to adoption. This past year we celebrated 14 years of marriage and our heart is still open and our prayer for a family hasn’t changed – in fact, it is even grown stronger. You see, early on we knew we were praying for a miracle to conceive a child of our own, but we also knew and believed that our God was the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. I mean, God had already performed one life-saving miracle in our lives by blessing my husband with healing. For those that don’t know, my husband Reggie was diagnosed with Leukemia his Freshman Year in college. With no bone marrow match insight, doctors at the University of Florida opted to perform a autologous bone marrow transplant which was the first of its kind in the medical field. Twenty plus years later and still cancer-free, he is a true walking testimony. Why Haiti, is a question we get asked a lot. For us, adopting from Haiti has always just felt right for a number of reasons. One, my husband is of Haitian decent. Although Brooklyn born and raised, both of his parents were born in Haiti and he still has family residing in Haiti. It was not until 2013, did my husband have the opportunity to visit Haiti for the first time. Two, it is estimated that there are nearly 1 million orphans in Haiti, a staggering number considering the country is just over 8 million in total population. Three, in 2010, the world watched from afar as Haiti suffered through a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 earthquake that decimated and leveled small surrounding towns around the epicenter which was Port-Au-Prince. Many Haitians perished, families were displaced, and thousands lost everything. Extreme poverty is the number one reason that so many little ones find themselves without the permanency of a family. Our heart’s desire is to one day be able to be able to provide the love of a mother and father that has never been known to a child that God has chosen to complete our family. The adoption process for us has been an emotional roller coaster to say the least. We've experienced heartache and heartbreak along the way, but we refuse to give up. Our journey initially begin back in 2013 with the opportunity to adopt newborn twins from Haiti, however, the birth mother had a sudden change of heart and decided to parent her newborns. Adoption is a hard decision for all parties involved. Although we were disappointed with the outcome of our first attempt, we are thankful that the birth mother followed her heart. Adopting means everything to us but ultimately, we want the child that God has destined to be ours. In 2013, we started down the adoption path once again and everything seemed to clicking on all sides. Spring 2014 rolled around and in the midst of completing our home study, we were abruptly informed that a recent change in the international adoption law would leave us without the proper agency represenation needed to complete our adoption process. Long story short, following the 2010 earthquake, the country of Haiti experienced an influx in human trafficking and child slavery. In order to protect the children of Haiti, the Department of State (DOS) along with US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) approved Hague Convention Adoptions from Haiti. The Hague Convention is an international agreement to safeguard intercountry adoptions and it applies to all adoptions by U.S. citizens habitually resident in the United States of children habitually resident in any country outside of the United States that is a party to the Convention. With Haiti joining the Convention, a specific set of international standards of practices for intercountry adoptions would be required and we were unfortunately forced to start our adoption journey once again.They say the 3rd time is a charm. Well here we are at our third go round. Despite all the ups and downs and the months without answers, we can honestly say that we feel our adoption journey is finally in good hands. We were blessed to find an amazing agency that has a heart for Haiti just like we do. Unfortunately, starting over requires a new set of financial obligations. Funds that were previously spent on agency fees, government applications, background checks, orphanage fees, travel abroad, home studies etc., will have to be spent again. In all honesty, if we try to walk by sight through this - the mountain looks too big to overcome. If we choose to walk by faith, (AND We Do) nothing is impossible. Last summer when no one had answers and we just felt stuck, God showed me 1 Samuel 1:27 "For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of him". Until this process comes to past, we will continue to stand on this verse. On this journey, I've experienced some dark days and my faith has surely been tested. I can't even count how many times I've fallen short - Thank God my momma was there to pick-up everytime I called. I only pray I can exude the strength she has shown me to our child one day. (Thank God for Moms!) I know my husband has had his days as well, but he is so mindful of my emotions. He never lets me see him sweat. My prayer is that he would be at peace during this process for I know how much he is looking forward to being a Dad. (And he will be a great one!) Our adoption like so many others, will be lengthy and expensive. Our adoption fees are estimated to run between $25K-35K. In our first two attempts, we did everything we could think to raise/save the money on our own but starting over and coming up with an additional $20,000 isn’t easy. We are seeking any assistance that God may place in your hearts and we ask for your prayers doing this process. Prayer changes everthing and every little bit helps as no amount is too small. With your help and God’s faithfulness we will reach our goal and become a family of three. Thank you for your considerations and prayers. We will be sure to provide updates along the way.Reggie & Adrienne Chery
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