Why Guatemala

Darcy in Guatemala as a college student!

WHY . . .WHY. . . WHY Guatemala?? We have been asked this question frequently. God planted a seed of adoption in me from a very young age. I had vivid dreams when I was a little girl that my parents were adopting internationally and I would wake up and beg them to make it real! I so badly wanted an adopted baby in our family.

When I attended Whitworth College I had the opportunity to do my multi-cultural experience in Guatemala. I was there a month and stayed with a wonderful Guatemalan family in Antigua. We took Spanish classes in the morning and spent our afternoons working in an orphanage. The experience made my desire to adopt even stronger. Next, I met this amazing man at Whitworth and on our second date we talked about how international adoption was something he had always wanted to do. We got married and after a few years of infertility we had two energetic, fun, work intensive, twin boys! We kept praying for margin financially and physically to adopt. We decided that when we were victorious at the end of the day we would start pursuing adoption. Well, everyday we ended with our butts kicked by these two sweet gifts from God.

Finally, we committed to praying everyday for a year about the adoption. It was very clear at the end that God was calling us to adopt. I knew in my heart that it would be Guatemala. I had fallen in love with the children and culture when I was there. As we started to research there were many reasons why we made the decision to adopt from Guatemala. Here are just a few

1. We can get there easily from the US (6 hour flight and relatively affordable)

2. US Standards in Formula and medical care

3. Foster Care vs. orphanage

4. Our agency let's you visit or foster as many times as you can

5. We can take the boys at some point so they have a more worldly view

6. There is a Spanish pre-school / kinder / after school program right up the hill

7. I have a minor in Spanish and Aaron speaks it pretty well

Our agency has been amazing they only specialize in adoptions from Guatemala. They are involved in every stage of the process. I added a link to the top of our blog so you can check out the agency if you are interested.

So, that's how we ended up here!