‘I woke up and decided to take a pregnancy test. I couldn’t explain it. Almost immediately, two lines showed up. Then, my phone started ringing. I looked down and saw our social worker from our adoption agency was calling.”
‘Her birth parents changed their minds.’ The call ripped us apart. ‘She’s coming to pick her up.’: Woman shares journey with infertility, adoption, foster care, urges ‘you will make it to the other side’
‘He appeared on ‘Adopt US Kids’ 3 months after he was with us. ‘He doesn’t want to be adopted.’: Mom adopts son as adult, co-writes story with him
“He said, ‘When I came home and saw a room decorated for me and a house key, I was so overwhelmed I didn’t know HOW to respond.”
‘I’m so sorry mommy wasn’t there to protect you.’ Forever didn’t last as long as we thought it would.’: Adoptive mom remembers medically-complex daughter after her passing
“‘She’ll probably be in the hospital until her 2nd birthday.’ I enjoyed every second I got to be her mom. Even if I knew how this was going to end, I would do it all over again.”
‘Whose children do you have?’ They are not props. We’re like any other family but with different skin colors.’: Mom shares transracial adoption of twins during civil unrest
“We speak adoption in our home, but love is our first language.”
‘Three days before Christmas, my phone rang at 8 a.m. ‘When can you get them?’ I stood in the hallway, frozen.’: Foster, adoptive mom thanks mother for support, ‘I had a great example’
“When we turned the corner he said, ‘Home.’ I smiled, ‘Yeah, buddy, that’s home.’ When I signed the adoption papers, I burst into tears.”
‘Should I let them call me mommy? I’m not their REAL mom.’: Foster mom urges ‘let them decide what they need’
“They need someone to hold them at night to mend the holes in their hearts. They need someone to say, ‘It’s going to be okay,’ when tears come, or ‘Good job, buddy,’ when they start pedaling their tricycle on their own.”
‘She struggled to get out of bed. It was like giving up her own child.’: Foster dad shares his appreciation for his wife’s role, ‘I am so proud of the heart she has’
“I take it for granted until I am the one sitting in the courthouse waiting an hour for a 10-minute hearing. There is still so much I cannot make up for.”
‘We’re here for you.’ Foster care isn’t all broken or messy.’: Foster mom reflects on the beauty of foster care, ‘It’s not all hard’
“I am rooting and fighting for them to leave me and for my heart to be ripped apart. It is priceless, heartbreaking, and beautiful.”
‘Are you in it for the long haul?’ NOTHING we had done prepared us for this moment.’: Mom shares complex journey to adopt son from foster care, ‘We can’t imagine life without him’
“They asked us about our ‘love story.’ It was a bureaucratic nightmare. And no one was being honest with us. Some days are a struggle, but we are so grateful to be his parents.”
‘Will he ever have to leave us?’ my children asked. What I signed up for wasn’t what happened.’: Foster mom shares emotional journey towards adoption, ‘Our family is built on love’
“‘Your voice sounds SO familiar.’ They almost dropped their phone. I was overjoyed and heartbroken all at once. No matter how he came to us, he has always been meant to be my son.”
