“Our daughter cried a lot. Basically anytime she was awake, she was crying. Was it supposed to be this hard? We had hours of doctor’s appointments, therapies, and evaluations. But there would no longer be uncertainty for our little girl.”
‘She was exposed to substances in utero. She didn’t want to be held. I wondered if we’d made a mistake.’: Couple adopts daughter from foster care, ‘I am so thankful she’s ours’
‘Can you take 3 siblings?’ You question yourself. Am I in over my head? Don’t let the pain stop you.’: Foster mom gives tips on how to be successful, ‘Love is what defines a family’
“Who would be calling at this time of night? ‘Would you be interested in taking them?’ Your heart quickens and your breath deepens, both to an uncomfortable level. ‘Three kids? Really?’ You feel obligated to say yes.”
‘We buckled him into his booster seat in the social worker’s car and watched them drive away.’: Foster parent’s emotional response after beloved 4-year-old goes home to biological father
“That night as we sat on the couch crying, I looked at the clock. It was 8:00, the time we’d usually take him to bed. ‘I hope he’s snuggled into bed after having his favorite book read to him,’ I said. ‘I don’t,’ my husband replied. ‘I hope his dad loves him so much, and missed him so badly that he’s still just holding him, and telling him how much he loves him.'”
‘They hadn’t told us which bed she was in, but we knew. Somehow, we knew. She was tiny, wrapped in an orange elephant blanket, and absolutely beautiful.’
“Every day that went by, we didn’t know if it would be our last together. Every time the phone rang my stomach was in knots. There were a few times I remember looking at each other like, ‘What the heck did we just get ourselves into?’”
‘I was in high school, crammed in a car with my girlfriends, driving to the hospital to support our best friend, who was about to place her baby boy into the arms of a woman she didn’t know, and say goodbye to him forever.’
“By the time we got to the hospital she had already delivered him. I remember walking in the room to see my beautiful friend laying there, a sheen of sweat still visible on her forehead, tired, solemn and more quiet than usual – and thinking she was the bravest, strongest, person I’d ever known.”
‘We’re having a baby!’ My daughter ran the positive pregnancy test to her dad with the biggest smile.’: Mom adopts child from foster care in wake of infertility, gets pregnancy with her little brother
“‘Um, wait. What?’ We learned we’d been wildly misinformed about where Taylor was. She never went back to her mom like we were told. Instead, she went to 3 MORE foster homes, including one that lost their license for abusing children. Our frustration and anger with the system ran deep. We were here, ready, available and waiting for her. We didn’t understand how this could possibly happen.”
‘853 days. That’s how much time my son spent with his biological parents before they both tragically passed away. While legally my adopted son, he is biologically my brother.
“Easton lost his mom to an overdose, and then we both lost our father 12 days later to pancreatic cancer. Today marks the day that he has officially spent more time with us, than he ever did with his biological parents. Let that sink in.”
‘Do you guys like pizza?’ Their eyes were nervous. This was yet another move, their 5th home. Where had these babies been?’: Woman becomes single foster mom of 3 overnight, ‘Every sunrise deepens our love’
“I did one final check on them and climbed into my bed, only to be awakened by sobs. My sweet 3-year-old had a nightmare. Rocking her, I wondered how it felt to seek comfort in a stranger. She clung to me, sweaty and shaking, her little heart pounding. I wondered what weight this little soul carried. I didn’t believe adoption was my best option. I was wrong.”
