China
Guatemala
Russia
Vietnam
Brazil
India
Ethiopia 
Like many adopting parents, our adoption journey started after years of unsuccessful attempts to have a baby and failed fertility treatments. Somewhere along the way, we started looking into adoption and it just felt right. We knew we wanted to adopt even if we had a biological child. The fertility treatments never worked out and we knew we just couldn't take it anymore. The actual day we decided to adopt was so wonderful. It was like this huge weight was gone and we were so excited. We realized we didn't have to give birth to a baby to be his/her parents.
Our first step was choosing a country. Vietnam just appealed to us. It was a combination of a lot of things- the age of the babies, the time frame, the cost, the country itself, and several other things. Next, we had to choose an agency. Vietnam wasn't even open for adoptions yet, but we knew it was going to open up soon. We only looked into two different agencies. FTIA had an information seminar the same week we found out about them, and we mailed our application the next day. It just felt right. I guess a lot of the adoption process if taking a leap of faith and going with your gut instinct.
We decided to adopt an infant boy. We knew that most people request girls, so we thought there would be more boys available. We turned in our dossier in March of 2006. We expected to travel that summer to get our baby. Unfortunately, things did not happen that fast. Due to Vietnam being a new program and being unpredictable, there were not babies just waiting to be adopted in the provinces FTIA was working in. A few girls were united with their families, but there still weren't any boys available. The wait was so hard. We just kept praying for our baby. Then the weirdest thing happened. I walked into the nursery one day to look around and I had this calming feeling come over me. I knew our baby was alive and waiting for us. I told my husband about it, and he had had the same feeling that week! We wrote down the dates on a little piece of paper. In January 2007, we received our referral. I don't think I showed a lot of emotion because I was just in shock. Our baby was so beautiful. We decided to name him Tai Brady. It turned out he was born the same week we both had that wonderful feeling. Pretty amazing!
We left for Vietnam in February 2007. Our trip was amazing! Tai was placed in our arms the morning after we got there. We fell in love instantly. We were really worried about how well he would adjust, but he did so great. We were lucky enough to travel with a wonderful family. Their baby girl was with Tai from the beginning of their lives and we all formed a wonderful bond. We were also fortunate enough to meet Keith, the CEO of FTIA, while we were in Vietnam. We got to see firsthand Keith's strong morals and love for the children. The staff in Vietnam was also amazing. They were so helpful and made sure everything got done. It was hard to say goodbye to Keith, the in-country staff, and Vietnam itself. We are not experienced travelers and never thought we would love Vietnam so much. Don't get me wrong, we were ready to come home, but we loved the people and the culture. Hopefully, we will return one day to adopt another baby.
Tai has adjusted so well. We just look at him all of the time and melt. He truly is a little angel. Things have a way of working out, and we know Tai is the baby we were meant to be with. Everyone stops us all of the time. He just makes people smile. It is the greatest feeling in the world when we walk in his room in the morning and he lights up or when his eyes follow us around the room. He definitely knows who his mommy and daddy are. We love him more than anything and can't imagine our lives without him.
Thank you FTIA for uniting us with our son!
Courtney, Jeremy, and Tai
