“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.”
‘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’
‘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.”
‘I meet her in a stark waiting room. Her eyes settle on her newborn in the car seat I’m carrying.’: Woman shares relationship with son’s birth mom
“The nurse smiles, ‘Congratulations.’ A sick feeling fills my stomach, and I think of his birth mom. I pray he’ll never have to wonder who she is.”
‘The phone call felt like a punch in the stomach. He’d become part of the family.’: Foster mom starts nonprofit to help families through ‘the cycle of love and heartbreak’
“They described a 3-year-old boy, nonverbal, tantrums; the list was long, but we felt called to say ‘yes.’ We decided to do everything we could for this child. Time was NOT on our side.”
‘She said, ‘You’re the place I can be myself.’ If ONE conversation changed her summer, I wanted to help change someone’s LIFE.’: Foster care advocate urges ‘step up and make a difference’
“What if they want nothing to do with me? What if I can’t help? The first day I met the children I was SO nervous.”
‘Your daddy has gone with the angels.’ I hadn’t even processed my mom’s death. I returned home to my things in black bags, and a social worker ready to take me.’: Woman recounts healing journey after losing 3 parents, brother to cancer
“After my mom and dad died of cancer, the woman who had finally given me a chance in life, believed in me, and treated my like her own was taken away so cruelly — cancer again. I was classified as homeless. I tarnished myself with the name ‘Bad Omen.’ Death followed me everywhere.”
‘I’m calling about 2 brothers.’ They were dumped off with a trash bag. We weren’t prepared for more than one.’: Couple foster siblings, ‘We don’t want them to be statistics’
“We became parents immediately. I realized I should have listened a little harder during the ‘Parenting Through Trauma’ section.”
‘They had better things to do than feed him.’ He was blue and resembled an alien. ‘OF COURSE, we’ll take him!’: Foster parents adopt shaken baby survivor
“’We have a 2-month-old baby boy, failure to thrive.’ I had never seen anything like him. My husband had tears in his eyes as the caseworker filled us in. They didn’t expect him to do much. That sweet baby boy had given up, but we were not giving up on him.”
