Soak it in.

WORLD LIFE EXPECTANCY

Highest 10 (average life span)

Andorra 82.5
Japan 82.1
San Marino 82
Singapore 82
Australia 81.6
Canada 81.2
France 81
Sweden 80.9
Switzerland 80.8
Iceland 80.7

Lowest 10 (average life span)

Central African Republic 44.5
Malawi 43.8
Djibouti 43.4
Liberia 41.8
Mozambique 41.2
Sierra Leone 41.2
Lesotho 40.4
Zambia 38.6
Angola 38.2
Swaziland 31.9

Source: World Health Organization

Why do Andorrans live longer than anyone else? Where in the world is Andorra?

One of B and I's goals for 2009 was to learn more about adoption. We feel called to adopt, but have many, many questions. On Saturday we got much more info while attending an information session ( http://www.beafamily.org ). I learned several things I did not know. Did you know that you get a $12,000 tax credit the year your adoption is finalized? Did you know there are 30,000 children in the CPS system in Texas alone? Or that 3,000 of those are waiting to be adopted right now? Or that if you adopt a child from the CPS system, it is virtually free (almost all fees are refunded by the state following placement), or that a child adopted through CPS gets free in-state public college tuition?

I had always, always seen us adopting internationally, but the costs are high. I was delighted to learn about some options that may be more do-able, or may allow us to adopt more than once, or sooner.