Our latest homework

A little insight into our process...below is a question (and our response) we were asked on one of our MANY applications. I thought this might answer questions some of you might have as to WHY we're embarking on this adventure and give you a small peek into the process. It's also a bit funny to see how two verbose people crammed 5 loaded questions into 2 paragraphs.

Why do you wish to adopt a child from Ethiopia?

(1-2 paragraphs)

· You can mention the steps that brought you to adoption

· You can mention what made you decide to adopt a child from Ethiopia

· What are your strengths as a couple/parents

· How you will keep the Ethiopian culture with you child

· Something about providing education for the child

Our path to adoption ironically began with some sad news. Before our daughter Kysa was born, we had a miscarriage and were naturally devastated. We know this is completely normal, but it also opened our eyes to the fact that we didn’t care if we had biological or adopted children, we just wanted to be parents. We went to an international adoption workshop to learn more. Since we are already an international family, we felt that an international adoption just makes sense for our family. Fredrik was born in Sweden and Allison in the United States. Together we have a strong global outlook having both traveled all over the world, and with friends and family who live all over the world. We were very moved by the large number of orphans in Ethiopia, but we were also inspired by the great care and love these orphans receive in the orphanages. Even though we have been very blessed with a biological daughter, we are still recognizing our calling to adopt from Ethiopia.

Our strengths as parents to an adopted child come from our love of children, our interest in blending the beauty of our own cultures (Swedish, American, and now Ethiopian), and our desire to teach openness, exploration and tolerance in all things. We look forward to incorporating Ethiopian cuisine, holidays, music, and customs into our family traditions. As a family, we value higher education, as well as the non-academic educational experiences we have both benefited from during our lives including sports, the arts, and travel. Before becoming a mother, Allison taught literacy and dance to children in the New York City schools and has also worked with students throughout the USA, Mexico and Turkey. Before becoming a father, Fredrik received his MBA in International Business and has worked and studied in countries all around the world. He now works for a global technology company, IBM. As parents, we will make sure our children receive the best academic education possible, but we will also give them many opportunities to observe and explore the experiences around us every day whether that be cooking, reading or gardening at home, socializing in our diverse neighborhood, or traveling to far beyond. We look forward to being very involved in our children's education by volunteering in their schools. Currently we plan for our children to attend Mitchell Montessori starting at age 3. The school is walking distance from our home. We live in a very racially diverse neighborhood, and we acknowledge the importance of providing our son a very diverse environment where he can grow and thrive, honor his heritage, and feel acceptance from those around him. We are so blessed and excited to one day soon bring our son home.