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Showing posts from 2019

adoption advice: Alexis

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As part of National Adoption Month, I've been asking some of my past families about "what is your biggest advice for hopeful adoptive parents?" Alexis came to mind, as she is a new single mother through the miracle of adoption!  She jumped bravely into the process as a single woman, with the support of close friends and family by her side. She recently finalized the adoption of her sweet son Cohen.  When I asked Alexis her biggest piece of advice for hopeful adoptive parents, here's what she said..... Expectations!   The expectations I set during the adoption process made it more difficult when they weren’t met, but they made me turn to God, time and time again.  Whether it was an expectation set in regards to timing on completing paperwork, the number of cases coming through my inbox, responses from others involved in the process, information from an agency, a yes or no from presenting, birth parent communication, timing on delivery/baby arrival,

adoption story: erin and jonathan

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When I first met Erin and Jonathan, they were contemplating which adoption path was right for their family, as they sought to become a family of three. They were trying to decide between going with one local traditional agency or trying a multi-agency approach with a consultant. They came onboard with me in October, and started immediately working on their home study, was completed by December, and then the real wait began!  They were matched 7 months after being home study ready. They brought their beautiful daughter home this past December, and recently finalized their adoption around her sixth month. I recently caught up with Erin, as she reflected on their path to building a family.  Curl up with a cup of coffee and join us! What led you to adoption? The desire to have a family led us TO adoption but God led us THROUGH adoption to our baby! We tried for many years to have a family the conventional way.  However, after we experienced

adoption testimony - Lacey

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Lacey and Tyler were a joy to serve!  She brought extra empathy and sensitivity into their adoption journey, as she is an adoptee herself!   I asked her to share some of her thoughts, from her unique position of occupying two parts of the adoption triad, adoptee and adoptive mom.  Thank you, Lacey, for sharing your own unique story, as well as your journey to your beautiful son! I myself was adopted as an infant through private adoption. My birth mother had my sister when she was just 16, and had me when she was 18. She was young and not ready to be a parent. My adoptive parents were married and had tried to conceive for over 8 years and it just wasn’t happening for them.  My birth mother and my adoptive mother worked together for a short amount of time. My birth mother would have my adoptive mother babysit  my birth half sister, and she was testing the waters to see if she wanted to have my adoptive mom adopt my sister.  (Me and my birth sister, me on the right) (The two

adoption story: Max + Megan

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I loved serving Megan and Max. They came into adoption with hearts open for a wide array of situations. They just wanted to become a family of four. They signed on with me in April of last year, bravely became home study certified and also bravely launched into some amazing ways to fund their adoption. They completed a  Both Hands project, a T-shirt Fundraiser, grants,  and everything in between).  They were matched in July.  They were able to travel  in   late August  to meet the expectant mother who chose them to raise her son. Everything was going smoothly until one day when they got a call that the baby had been delivered 9 weeks prematurely.  And their expectant mom was now having second thoughts about her adoption plan... Megan shares a bit more about their adoption journey.... Max & I started our relationship out talking about kids LONG before we were married. We both love kids and it's been our lifelong dream to parent. When infertility got in our way, we tried

adoption story: scott and jenn

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I loved serving Scott and Jenn!  They jumped into their adoption journey with positive, expectant hearts. This is the story of how they became a family of four in just 12 months!   Thank you for sharing your open adoption story, Jenn! I know this will be an encouragement for others who are considering adoption and/or openness in their adoption. Our adoption journey started with several years’ of infertility as most do. After a doctor’s visit where we were told we were at a junction to either start IVF treatment or chose adoption, we easily chose to pursue adoption. I was tired of being poked and prodded, and the specialists didn’t think I had a great chance of success even with IVF.   We decided to start the adoption process early April 2017 and were referred to CAC through a colleague of Scott’s. We were finally home study ready in June 2017 and started receiving situations at that time. There were some weeks where we did not receive any situations, and