You are adopting from where?

Over the years that we've been together, we have heard a lot of incredulous questions mostly of the variety "You married who?" The question of the past year, has been "You are adopting from where?" Like most of our fellow Americans, we had never heard of Kazakhstan before a year ago... ok, we're not the hippest people on the planet b/c it took us awhile to make the connection to Borat. Now, within the month, we will be going to Aqtobe, Kazakhstan to meet our child.

So, how did we decide to adopt our child from this country on the other side of the world? Truth be told, it took a lot of time and research to find this country. In the end, it was the rigorous in-country adoption process that made us choose Kaz.

Kaz requires a two-week bonding period that allows us to visit our child in the orphanage for 14 days. This bonding period is a bonus for our child and for us. It allows our child to become accustomed to us in their own environment.

Once we found the program, we started looking at the country. It is the 9th largest country in the world (according to the CIA it is just under 4x the size of Texas). It has an amazing history and culture. The silk road went through Kaz. The best news for Kaz is that oil has been discovered (and China wants to be their new BFF). The best news for us is that we get to spend 2 months in this amazing country and learn about KK's culture so we can pass it on to him.