Our first obstacle was deciding if we wanted to pursue domestic or international adoption. Joe and I discussed the pros and cons of both. Our main worry with domestic adoption was the opportunity for the mother to change her mind after the child was born. In some states, the mother has as long as 6 months, in other states; it could be 3-30 days. Additionally, we knew we didn't want to get emotionally involved with a birth mother. Although we welcomed the beautiful gift she was giving us and would always keep her memory a part of our child's life, we didn't want a third party in our parenting...so open adoption was not for us. We narrowed down some options internationally and settled on Russia, Bulgaria, Kazykstan, and Guatemala. Guatemala being closed to foreign adoption quickly eliminated that country as a choice, so we focused on the remaining three. Our time "in country" was the final deciding factor on Russia. Kaz and Bulgaria required very lengthy stays of up to 6 weeks in country, so we decided that the more frequent shorter trips were conducive to our life style; and so Russia was our final choice.
Please keep in mind that these posts are very short excerpts of involved lengthy decision making processes. None of these choices should be taken lightly, as they will affect the next 12 months of your life ! (and maybe more!)