Pompeo Family

When I think about AGCI, I have the biggest smile on my face - and a huge lump in my throat. I find myself feeling very emotional because they were such a huge part in making my childhood dream come true......to be a mom! The other reason I get "teary" is because of AGCI's care and attention to us throughout our journey to our son, Austin.

My husband and I had gone through many years of infertility and then 2 failed domestic adoptions.  I had one really great friend who kept talking gently to me about international adoption and I would always shut her out....I was nervous about it and thought that it would be way too complicated!!!  Little did I know that God was using my friend to soften my heart to going across the ocean!!

Right after our second failed adoption, I was really hurting and was trying to resolve myself to the thought that I would never be a mom. My friends dragged me to a ladies' retreat for the weekend. Well, this is where I heard about AGCI for the very first time! The conference had a bookstore set up and this one book caught my eye: The Strength of Mercy. I stood there in tears and knew I was buying that book!!!  A friend of mine came over to see what was wrong with me. When she saw the book in my hand, she told me that she had wanted to show it to me, but knew that I was an emotional wreck at the time and wasn't sure if I could handle it. Well, God knew that it was exactly what I needed! I read the entire book that night and couldn't stop thinking about Heather and her journey to bring her sister home to her parents. I kept thinking about God and His plan and how I was trying to become a mom without God. I felt like God was about to stretch me and my faith and trust in Him.

You can just imagine the drive home with my friend. She told me I needed to call this agency on Monday morning. I wondered the entire four hour drive home how my husband was going to react. Of course, I thought about all the ways that I could share this with him, but in the end, well, I just blurted it out within 10 minutes of being home. The amazing thing was that he was so receptive to it and then asked if I planned on calling in the morning!

So I called AGCI the next morning and was so blown away by the way I was treated the second the phone was answered. I was used to a feeling of "distance" with other agencies and I felt totally embraced with AGCI. Right away I knew this was an incredible agency. I was also impressed with their Hannah's Hope projects. That told me so much about the heart of this agency. Not only do they care for the ones that find forever families, but they also take care of the ones left behind.

A couple of days later, I had a phone call from Hollen (international director) and again, I was so impressed by the way I was treated. She actually cared about what my husband and I had already gone through and the pain that we were in. For the first time in a long time, I felt like there was hope. I finally felt like I would become a mom. Well, that was why Hollen was calling! Originally, we were going to go to Romania because in Romania, they placed the kids at 6 months and I wanted a baby. Hollen asked if we would consider Bulgaria. When I asked her why, she went on to tell me that she has this picture of this beautiful little boy and every time she looks at it, our name comes to her mind! I knew that I needed to listen to God on this one. I agreed to have Hollen send the pictures and the information on this little guy who was almost one - not the baby that I thought I needed!

I will never forget the day that package arrived. I opened it up and began to cry when I saw the boy that I knew was our son. When my husband came home that day, I ran outside and proudly showed him the picture and I knew that he felt the same thing. My husband asked me what we needed to do to bring him home.

We began the paper trail and the waiting.....the waiting was brutal. Hollen was truly amazing during this time. I always felt encouraged after a phone call and felt like I could keep going. Hollen gave me names and numbers of people who were going to Bulgaria to the same orphanage that our little guy was living in. I called one family and they were travelling to bring their daughter home. I was able to send stuff to Austin and they took video and pictures for us. All the pictures and videos that we had were lifelines for us. Then Hollen went to Bulgaria a few weeks before we were going to bring Austin home. She called and told me every detail of how cute he was, what he was doing, what size clothing he was in, and all those "mommy details" that you crave when you are waiting.

When we travelled to Bulgaria, we were greeted by "Doc" who would take us around Bulgaria. He would be the one to take us to our son and take him out of the door that I saw Austin looking through in so many of the pictures that we had of him. Doc was amazing and quite entertaining; he sang every Elvis song. He also gave us many history lessons that he wanted us to pass on to our son. AGCI made sure that every part of the process was completely handled. We didn't have a single worry when we were in Bulgaria.

So many times, I felt like I was the only client that AGCI had because they took the time to nurture me through this process. I felt supported and encouraged the entire time. I have never met Hollen, but I feel like I have known her forever. Austin has been home now for eight and one half years and we still keep in touch. I know for a fact that this is a rare thing for an agency.

One really neat thing about our story is the fact that when we were experiencing the pain of the failed domestic adoptions, Austin was 4 months old in Bulgaria and couldn't be placed for adoption until the age of one. I wasn't ready to go internationally. God used this pain and sorrow in my life to lead me to His plan. I had to go through that so that when I finally "let go and let God," my dream to be a mom could be fulfilled because Austin was 11 months old when I called AGCI and he could be placed for adoption when he turned 1 year old the next month!