Homeschool Mom Shares the Beginning of Her Adoption Journey

Today, I’m interviewing Vickie Hubbell. Vickie is a Thompson’s Station homeschooling mother of three. She and her husband, C.J., are in the process of adopting two children from Uganda.

Welcome to HomeschoolingWC, Vickie. Adopting is a huge endeavor. What made you decide to try to expand your family through adoption? 
For years we have wanted to adopt and always felt it wasn’t the right timing, but we know for sure this is God’s timing! We may not have a lot of space in our home but we do have a lot of love to give. We are all so excited about expanding our family!

International adoption can be especially complicated. Why Uganda?
A good friend of ours started an orphanage in Uganda and we have been sponsoring a little boy there. She has just recently signed up with an agency so that she can do international adoptions and we were selected to be a part of a pilot program.
There are so many dimensions to this story so it is hard to summarize, but things that have happen and the timing just seem to be straight from God.

What challenges have you come up against or expect with adopting internationally?  
We are in the beginning of the process, so far not many challenges. We have been warned of all of the things that can happen and are told to guard our hearts, which we are trying to do. This is a pilot program so anything can happen. There will be a lot of unknowns, it really is stepping out in complete faith. I will have to stay in the country for 4-8 weeks at some point, that will be challenging as I homeschool so I am with my kids 24/7, so to be away for any period of time will be hard.

Your family is about to expand by not just one child but two. Why are you trying to adopt two children at once?  
We have always wanted to adopt two for many reasons, but we decided if we can we would love to adopt two at the same time from the same orphanage because the children there are already like siblings. So if it is not a sibling group it doesn’t matter, they have only known each other, so for them to come into our home together, I think would be a blessing all the way around. Also, if we try to adopt two children at one time, yes there are a little more costs for fees and court costs, but we only have to fly the one time and my stay would just be the one time for both of them.

How are your children preparing for this big change in your family?
We have always talked about adoption and were going to start this process last year, so when we told them last year my son had already cleared out his drum set to make room for his brother’s bed! Our kids are 13, 11, and 7. My 13 year old is already in love with whatever children we bring as her new siblings! My son, the 11 year old, has been preparing for over a year. And Carlie, the 7 year old, I have many talks with her, she is the baby now so if we get a child younger I know there will be some adjusting on her part, but she is a caretaker by nature so I think she would thrive taking care of little ones. We pray together for them and talk about our new family all the time. This will be a very joyous occasion when CJ and I actually get to bring them home.

How can the community help your family?
I have so many friends that have adopted and the out pouring of support has already been amazing. This community is the best for adoption. I have already called on several friends and they have given more information than I could have ever researched on my own. They give me the good and the bad. Our family is a pioneer in adopting from this orphanage in Uganda, but not in adopting in this community. There seems to be quite a good support group here.

Thanks for sharing your story, Vickie. We look forward to updates along the way.

If you'd like to help support the Hubbell adoption financially, visit their page on YouCaring. 



Watch as 13 year old Christiane Hubbell performs the song she wrote for her future siblings: