Why the Marshall Islands?

One of the first questions people always ask is, "Why the Marshall Islands?"  ("Why adopt?" is probably the actual first question, but that's a post for another time.)  And so, in the best way I know how, I'll attempt to answer the question that may well define our family's future.

Logistically, the Marshall Islands made sense for a lot of reasons- the program is a small and short one, with infants only- two less-than-common things in international adoption. While someday we might pursue an older child, we wanted to begin as young as possible the first time around, and we were willing to wait longer, but definitely wanted to start our family sooner if possible. This specific program also requires a month-long stay in-country, and we reasoned that there may come a time (after our first child, for example) when it would not be possible for us to commit to a stay like this, so we wanted to do this while we still could.


Beyond the practical details, though, there was something much deeper. There was a time when it looked like adopting from RMI (The Republic of Marshall Islands) was going to be impossible- the waiting list was long- the original estimate was as long as 6 years before we could even START the program, and then a yearish to complete the program... it didn't seem like an option. And yet, I kept our names on the waiting list, hoping that something miraculous would change. We looked into many, many other programs, and still nothing felt right... until 9 months went by and we were invited to join the program, years before we thought we could.

Yuki's first birthday

Amaya's baptism

When we moved to Oregon, Paul became fast friends with a coworker named Kel (from Saipan), and that relationship blossomed. He and his wife Marci (from the Marshall Islands) welcomed us into their lives, and when they had their first baby, we fell in love. How could you not? Yuki was adorable, and when her birthday came up, we offered to help throw the traditionally ENORMOUS first birthday party. I mean hundreds-of-Pacific-Islanders-making-enough-food-to-feed-all-of-Portland enormous, which is a kind of enormous I hadn't ever really been exposed to or understood before. We were welcomed with open arms into their loving family and community (although you could pick our laughably pale skin out of their crowd). We also got to see something that Kel and Marci took for granted as normal- their continual openness to having people stay with them (usually family members)- despite their home being packed to the brim on occasion. We have also had a few people live with us in the past, and we try to keep our doors open for anyone that needs a home, and their giving-with-both-hands love and hospitality was (and continues to be) inspiring to us.

Amaya's first birthday

So, when their second daughter, Amaya, was born a little over a year later, we were honored to be asked to be her godparents. And since we had practice, we were involved with Amaya's first birthday too- and of course, we had a blast with Kel, Marci, the girls, and the hundreds of others that let us be a part of their lives for these special moments.


Our relationship with their family has only increased- but it's more than just them. This family that we love showed us a culture that values community and family in a way that was uniquely touching in our lives. Maybe it was the phase of life, maybe it was those precious girls... but it felt natural and special for us to want to bring our baby home from RMI.

When we first talked to Kel and Marci almost a year ago about the prospect of adopting from the Marshall Islands, they offered to help immediately, and assured us that they would do everything they could- yet again reminding us why a place we've yet to even visit has taken up such a big place in our heart.



Updates: We've begun our home study paperwork- huzzah! We have also been working on fundraising, thanks to people donating items we can sell and just plain donating- every little bit chips away at the enormous bill that comes with adoption. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for your encouragement, blessings, prayers, well wishes, and enthusiasm- it has been such an overwhelmingly positive week! We will continue to update- love you all!