We've made contact with our host children!! To our complete shock, Keiffer received a friend request on Facebook 10 days ago from A! We had no idea that he even knew about us, and were told by Project 143 that they wouldn't find out about us until a few days before they flew out. We were also told that they wouldn't receive their welcome letters we wrote them introducing ourselves and sharing family photos until the plane ride over here. At this point it was 2.5 weeks before they will be here, and here a Facebook connection?! Crazy!
There were so many feelings. Total excitement that he is interested in us, shock that he found Keiffer, and fear because we didn't know what to do next. There are a lot of rules that each of our agencies and also the Latvian government have set that place restrictions on the amount of information that can be shared online about hosting, but more importantly adoption. Unlike other countries that you see people adopting from and sharing photos and information about their journey publicly, Latvia does not allow that. We have been told by our hosting agency that we cannot discuss adoption with the kids at all (for fear of getting their hopes up in case the adoption doesn't go through), and from our adoption agency we have been told we cannot share their names, photos or any details that could give away their identity. Latvia is extremely strict and we do not want to risk our adoption not working out by making a public connection through Facebook. So pretty much, we panicked!
I called my P143 Regional Coordinator and asked for an explanation on how A found us this early, and also what the protocol is for this situation. We have stuff posted all over our Facebook about our plans to host and adopt, and if we befriend them, people will see who they are, and they would be let in on the "secret" of our plans to adopt them! Ug, quite the predicament. My coordinator said that our scenario is pretty much unheard of. Host children do not typically feel comfortable reaching out to host parents before meeting them. There are two host programs coinciding right now, an 8 week extended stay in America for children who are being re-hosted by the same families, and a 5 week host period for new families. We are a part of the 5 week program, but the 8 week program began a few days ago. Over in Latvia they had to get all of the orphans and chaperones together from both programs for an informational meeting about their trip to America. This is why our children have found out about us this early. We know that A received his welcome letter because Keiffer's Facebook account is under the name Keiffer Marino, not Keith Marino, which is what the agency knows him by. In the letter to A, he used his nickname Keiffer instead of Keith. Hence our putting two and two together.
Our coordinator thought it best to send him a private message saying that we cannot yet communicate through Facebook as friends, but we can private message and email. She congratulated me though and said this is a VERY good sign that he is reaching out and shows his excitement to come meet our family! I decided to call the Latvian program director to verify that this is the best way to communicate with A and I got a different answer from her. She was very shocked as well at A's willingness to reach out, and says that this is super exciting and we should be totally flattered. That so many host families wish they could be in our shoes. It gives us a head start in building a relationship 2.5 weeks before he even comes to America! Most people will step into the unknown meeting their host families and children for the first time when they get off the airplane! Her suggestion was to clean up our Facebook of all things adoption related and accept his friend request. Although this is enticing, we don't think this is the best decision. It is too risky to have people see his identity. There is the chance that he may find our adoption website, blog, or see someone post something about our plans. Once again, we want to protect the kids and make sure that they are protected and nothing disrupts our chance at adopting them.
Keiffer decided to private message A on Facebook in English as well as Latvian. He got a message back from A saying he is SO excited to meet Keiffer and our family! He then emailed Keiffer saying pretty much the same thing, and is counting down the days :)
Contact #2! a few days later E sent Keiffer a friend request! A obviously shared his findings with her, and it looks like she is eager to reach out as well! He private messaged her back telling her how excited we are to meet her, and asking her some questions about her likes, and also her clothes size. He received a message back from her in Latvian saying a simple, "I don't know. I will have to ask". I am assuming that she doesn't know because in orphanages they wear clothes of all different sizes, as nothing really "belongs" to them. I can't wait to give both of these deserving children clothes and shoes that are all theirs. No one else gets to wear them and they will be the correct sizes! E made contact once more with his shoe size, so at least we have something to go off.
So this is super exciting for us. We are hoping that we can get some more useful information about their clothes and shoe sizes as well as the things they are interested in. We are counting down the days to their arrival and making all the preparations for them. We have booked our travel plans for New York where the kids will arrive and have made plans for Calista, Bridget and Tennyson to be watched by friends while we are gone. We will bring Penelope with us since I am still nursing her. We are finishing up dossier paperwork which will be sent to Latvia for review to be granted the chance to appear before a judge and attempt to adopt A and E. SO much preparation has gone into this and now we finally get to meet them in just 14 days! AHHHH! It's like REALLY GOING TO HAPPEN! It's so surreal. Please pray for these two kids, and for our family, that our hearts may be prepared for what is about to happen, and that we can accept whatever becomes of this experience.
Thank you for following us on our journey! So many of you have supported us both financially and emotionally, and we are eternally grateful! We still need help financially as our adoption expenses are about to start coming fast and furious getting into dossier and travel to Latvia, so please consider donating to our adoption fund. You can donate quickly and easily by clicking donate:
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