Bulgaria Option

It's been recommended to me by some chat groups and social workers to check out the Bulgaria program since its just reopened and would have lots of children in the age range we're looking for available. I've contacted Holt, Carolina Adoption Services, and Americans for International Aid and Adoption. Holt gave me lots of info but ultimately said we would not qualify. I was very unhappy with this news. CAS said we would still be eligible if we have a letter indicating our ability to parent. I never heard anything from AIAA. So...because its "iffy" we may go back to the original option of Thailand.

Chicken Before the Egg?

So now my question is, do we choose an agency first or do we choose a country first and find an agency that had a good reputation in that country? I ask this because I'm starting to question the country choices we would have through Bethany because those countries place so few children through Bethany in Wisconsin each year that we may be waiting 3-4 years for a child. Several of the books and internet resources say to choose the country first since the child we adopt will want to know about their origin and we should therefore be interested heavily in that country. So now I'm going to start emailing agencies about Bulgaria and Thailand as I have become interested in those countries even though Bethany doesn't work in those places.

Bethany Meeting

We met with a social worker from Bethany Christian Service today after several email conversations over the last month. She was very nice and accommodating as we met in Green Bay rather than having to go to their offices in Fond Du Lac. She had a large list of waiting children with her and showed us a DVD of their international programs. We were both impressed and felt comfortable with her. This may be the agency for us. She helped us explore the countries that might work for us including The Philippines, South Korea, Lithuania, and Albania. I intend to research these country programs even more now.