Flashing back to our adoption day

Quite a few people sent me a link to this video about a couple who adopts a son after nine years of infertility. It caused me to wee-wind to our own adoption of Isaac over five years ago.

While my husband and I, obviously, aren't Asian, I found this couple to be incredibly similar to us. In fact, going and getting their son reminded me a lot of how we went to get Isaac.

We got the call that Isaac was on his way at about 1pm. By 3pm we were on the road to make the ten hour drive from Eglin Air Force Base to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Halfway there, we got a phone call. It was Isaac's birthmom Bri. She used the words, and I'll never forget them, "You have a son." It was the first time I had ever heard anyone else say out loud, that I had a child.

We walked into the hospital at night, just like this couple, hours after his birth. They carried an empty car seat. So symbolic of this infertility journey we both travelled.

And then, the moment we got to see our son for the very first time. They found words. I really don't have any.

The Path to Embryo Adoption

I just got my bi-monthly Stepping Stones in the mail. Stepping Stones is a ministry of Bethany Christians Services which offers Christian support for couples facing infertility or pregnancy loss. They had a fantastic article that I wanted to share: Q & A guide to Embryo Adoption (Pages 3-4). I am really working on compiling good resources for various aspects of infertility and this is definitely one I wanted to share.

Free book thru Sunday

 

From now until Sunday, you can download The Eye of Adoption by Jody Cantrell Dyer for free. Simply click here to go to her website and download a free Kindle version today. This is a book which deals with both infertility and adoption. (I am downloading my version today!)

 

Jody Cantrell Dyer gives readers a captivating yet down-to-earth love story of faith and family full of emotion and suspense. And, Dyer is funny! Her mission is to encourage, enlighten, and entertain others to build kinship among those affected by infertility and adoption.

Dyer’s book consistently garners 5-star reviews (4.9 average among 52 reviews) from Amazon readers—readers just like you!

 



Adoption: the Owens Family

A little information on why we are wanting to adopt. We have been blessed to have three wonderful boys (Jaxon, 8, Riley, 6, & Mason 2), and are thankful for them everyday. We have always loved the idea of adoption and often discussed early in our relationship (11 years ago when we were just engaged) that we would like to adopt a child if we were able, even if we had children of our own. After we had Mason we thought our family was complete, but we both felt God pulling us to give more. As much as we want a little girl, we feel like we would also be doing what God wants us to do by giving a child in need a family that will love and care for them unconditionally. With a loving extended family and three big brothers to help keep her safe, we know that she would be in a place God would want her. Please pray for us and pass the word to all those you know. Word of mouth is a great tool, and the power of prayer has the ability to move mountains. Thank you for joining us on this journey, and God bless!

 

For more information on this family and how you can help, visit their Facebook page by clicking here.

Support Others

Here is a link to a fantastic resource which provides you with information on how to support and stand alongside people who are adopting. 

Adoption: the Standridge Family

 

 

By the eve of our fourth wedding anniversary we had been wanting to have a baby without success. My husband asked me what I would like for our anniversary and I sheepishly answered, “A baby.” He gently told me he couldn't promise me that, but that we'd have a nice celebration of four happy years.

An anniversary wish impossible for my husband to promise was not impossible for God! The next day we heard that after waiting four months with an adoption agency, we had been chosen to parent a baby due to be born in two weeks! Miraculously, we were the expectant couple's second choice of a family to parent their son. The first family selected had decided that adoption was not God's plan for them and said no to the adoption match.

Although we were his birth parents' second choice, we were God's first choice for Erik. If we had become pregnant one of the months and years we hoped and prayed to, we would not have pursued adoption. We wanted a baby, we thought we couldn't have one, God placed adoption on our hearts, and then came Erik. Simple? Not really. Impossible? Not for God.

When Erik was four months old, after four years of infertility, we discovered we were expecting! Our second son Andrew was born one year and four days after his big brother Erik.

Erik is now six years old, Andrew is five, and our “later in life surprise” Jenna just turned one year old. Although you hear about it often, it is really not common for couples who have adopted because of infertility to then conceive and have other children. But God's plan will not be thwarted and His ways are higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:9). Praise Him!

 

Adoption: Aaron and Kristen

It's absolutely amazing how God places people in our lives at just the right times and just the right places.  We met John and Wendi when they were going through infertility.  We had always thought we would adopt, but had never actually walked along with another couple going through infertility.  A couple years later, we found ourselves working through our own infertility and reaching out to John and Wendy for their thoughts on domestic adoption.  We had been starting to work with a local adoption agency which, while a fabulous agency, just wasn't feeling right for us.  I will never forget Wendy telling me that they had looked at Bethany at one time, and she and John felt that it was a very reputable agency.

Fast forward another 8 months (and working with Bethany), and I was at work when my husband called to tell me a baby boy had been born that morning and his parents wanted us to adopt him.  Little did we know how different our lives would become in that one phone call.  The love and total awe we have for the fact that Noah is our son are beyond any words that I have.  It was truly love at first sight, and we couldn't ask for a more perfect fit for our family!  We are blessed way beyond anything we deserve or ever imagined. 

Two years later we were matched with a young lady who was having a little girl.  I was in the delivery room that June morning when Lillian was born.  There are no words to explain how humbling it was to watch Jamie (Lillian's birthmom) give birth to her daughter and hand her to me.  I still cry even writing about it :)  The true love it took for Jamie to carry Lillian and give birth to her and then to make a plan for us to raise her...  I am am speechless!

And now we find ourselves getting ready to start waiting for a third baby to join our family.  Even after being blown away by God's goodness through our first two adoptions, I find myself nervous and anxious about how this third baby will fit into our family.  And then I spend time with my two kids and remember that we have been truly blessed through adoption beyond anything we ever imagined or dreamed.