dingle, party of 9?

Note: I'm keeping this post up, even though our adoption plans changed. Part of me wants to pull all the posts down. I want to erase the hard. But? I think God purposed the hard for our good. And I believe all the parts of our story are worth telling. So, knowing that this and this and this and this all tell the end of the story so far, here's the start of the story I thought was coming...


We said we were done.

We were wrong.

We're in process to adopt again.

No, I'm not kidding.

What changed? Well, you know we’re committed to keeping siblings together. That’s why we adopted three at once last time. So when we found out about Zoe’s younger biological brother who is currently living in an orphanage, that's what changed.

We’re going back to Taiwan.

When they began listing Zoe's brother for international adoption, we were contacted. We said yes. Right now, we’re in the early stages, so there’s a possibility something could change. That said, we’re far enough in that we feel safe sharing with confidence that this process will end in Zoe and her brother growing up as siblings in our family. (In other words, if this were a pregnancy, we’d be entering the second trimester - not completely out of the woods for complications but far enough along that the odds of everything else going smoothly are pretty good.) 

I can’t share his age, but he’s a baby. I can’t share his picture online, but we’re smitten. We would have said yes even if this weren’t the case, but his development is typical so far. Laws in Taiwan have changed since we adopted Zoe, plus he is in a different orphanage in a different county which means different facilitators handling the paperwork there and a different judge hearing the case… in other words, timelines are hard to estimate.

And his name? For Taiwanese-Americans, it’s common to have an English name and a Mandarin Chinese one. So just like we gave Zoe her English name and kept her Chinese name as part of her legal name, we’re planning to call this sweet boy Samuel with his given Chinese name as a middle name.

I think that answers most of the pressing questions. 

Side note: One question I’ll never answer is anything about their first family, so please don’t bother asking. I’m not going to tolerate speculation about, judgment of, or prying into their first family. Lee and I know the circumstances behind first Zoe and then Sam needing a new family, but that is not our story to tell. So, please, don't ask.

Oh, and fundraising… nope. I’ll write a whole post about the details, but we have all the money we need. This adoption is covered, as is a small addition to add a bedroom, small bathroom, and larger laundry area (with two washers and two dryers! swoon). An inheritance received late last year has met all those needs.

Finally, adoption is a family affair, so we wouldn’t have said yes unless the kids were on board too. They’re ecstatic! (And they’re lobbying for newborn twins after this, and then “can we adopt from another warm place after that, because I’m tired of being cold?” and Robbie wants to know if we can adopt from another planet… and, no, none of those plans have been affirmed by us. We’re done. Seriously. I mean it. Unless we aren’t. Because we’ve been “done” before, and now...)

My favorite part of all this? Every kid will have a biological sibling in the family once this adoption is complete. Every kid will have someone who mirrors them. Every kid will have someone who shares a unique part of their history. Every kid will have someone else who can relate in a way that no one else can. Goosebumps, y'all. What a gift!

We know this is crazy, but I hope you’ll share in the joy of this story we never would have crafted on our own. We said our family was complete, but God didn’t agree. We know He writes the best stories, so we’re looking forward to what’s in store.

#dinglepartyof9 coming soon, God willing!

from L-R: Patu, Zoe, Robbie, Patience, me, Lee, Sam, Jocelyn, and Philip