Thursday, November 12, 2009

National Adoption Awareness Month

Prior to adopting Nika, I always had a place in my heart for adoption. Being someone who suffered years of infertility, I used to search photo listings of children available for adoption ... thinking that might someday be our reality.

In the end, we were able to successfully have our beautiful biological children via IVF (in vetro fertilization). After our second child was diagnosed with Down syndrome, we weren't sure which direction to proceed in adding to our family.

IVF is expensive. Adoption is expensive. We figured that either way, we had to pay for our next child. So why not adopt a child who needs a family?

It sounded like the perfect solution to us!

So we did. And our adoption has been one of the most amazing experiences of our lives.

When speaking of adoption, I am sometimes conflicted. Many times people don't see the challenges that can come with adoption ... whether it be attachment difficulties, behavioral problems, whatever. Fortunately, we have been very lucky to not have hardly any issues with Nika ... so our story sort of looks like a fairytale story. But it doesn't always happen that way and I just want people to be prepared for that when they decide to adopt a child.

That said, I am here to advocate for all the orphans out there that need a family! Because the benefits always outweigh any challenges that may arise. I am asking you to look deep inside yourself and see what you have to offer an orphan.

These families are already on their way ... how much can we support them?

The Garcia Family ... adopting Kellsey from Eastern Europe ---> They are in country now!

The Stumbo Family ... adopting Nina from Eastern Europe ---> They have their travel date!

The Westbrook Family ... adopting Ruslana from Eastern Europe ---> They are waiting for their travel date!

The Beasley Family ... adopting Elisa, Vanessa and Arthur from Eastern Europe ---> They are waiting for their travel date!

The Nemes Family ... adopting Ana from Eastern Europe ---> They are waiting for their travel date!

The Mayden Family ... adopting Yana and Tavi from Bulgaria ---> They are working on their dossier!

The Rieben Family ... adopting three older children from Bulgaria ---> They are working on their dossier!

The Davis Family ... adopting Sergey from Russia ---> They are working on their dossier!

The Lorenz Family ... adopting Liza from Eastern Europe ---> They are working on their homestudy.

The McDonald Family ... adopting Misha from Eastern Europe ---> They are working on their homestudy!

The Velander Family ... adopting Lera from Russia ---> They are working on their homestudy!

The Zoromski Family ... adopting Lily from Eastern Europe ---> They are working on their homestudy!

2 comments:

  1. If we were younger, I would definitely adopt more. But we started building our family later in life - I thought I would be done having kids at 35, not just getting started! So we're good with just two kiddos. But someday, I hope to have the money to help finance adoption for others, saving more of these precious orphans without actually needing the mommy energy to raise them!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bethany, my baby brother is adopted, and another example of a highly successful adoption story. I, too, strongly support adoption (and would have considered it if I weren't able to get pregnant with Samantha after the 8 years of trying). Oddly, on the flip side of things, I used to have a friend who had given up her baby for adoption when he was born 20 years ago. She was convinced that adoption is a bad thing and that she had been manipulated and conned into giving up her parental rights and that the adoptive parents were awful. To be honest, I think she was delusional. She stopped talking to me when I stood my ground in support of adoption, saying that there are many, many wonderful success stories, and suggested that we agree to disagree. Anyway, I digress (just feeling a little bitter about my former friend on this topic). I just wanted to say that you've done an amazing thing, and that so so so many children (with and without disabilities) would never have a chance if it weren't for their adoptive "forever families."

    ReplyDelete