“My eyes welled up with tears instantly. There he was. An adorable, chubby-cheeked 9-month-old boy. ‘He’s ours, isn’t he?’ No one quite understood the ache we had in our hearts to have him home.”
‘As we pulled away, he cried, ‘MOM!’ My heart burst with so much emotion. He was saying goodbye to everything he knew.’: Couple shares adoption journey, ‘They are IMMENSELY loved’
‘You have to work harder because of skin color.’ There was NO ONE like me in my classes. I’m changing the narrative.’: Transracial adoptee reflects on ‘reclaiming’ her culture, ‘I’m not alone anymore’
“I wasn’t ‘Latina enough’ to befriend kids at school. My white peers would say things like ‘I don’t see color,’ which made me feel like I was on both sides of the coin. I tried DESPERATELY to fit in and be accepted.”
‘He’s only a few days old, and white.’ He didn’t even weigh enough to leave. I did skin-to-skin for weeks.’: Woman battles infertility, fosters-to-adopt, ‘We don’t have to look alike to love alike’
“Seven miscarriages later, the carpet was pulled from under us. She came into our lives at just the right moment.”
‘Baby girl with severe leg deformation.’ My heart pounded in my chest. This was the baby we’d searched for.’: Couple adopts daughter with special needs, ‘She’s our perfect match’
“Instantly, we said, ‘Yes.’ The very conditions that made her birth family unable to care for her were the reasons she was meant to be our daughter. To us, she was pure perfection.”
‘It’s an impossible mission.’ My mom wasn’t going to give up yet. This was for her little girl. She wasn’t about to lose this fight.’: Transracial adoptee shares journey, ‘My life was forever changed’
“I was abandoned when I was born, dropped off in a box by a school. It broke my mom’s heart. ‘I can’t pick up the phone and end my dream.’ She worked without sleeping, day in and day out, to fulfill her dream.“
‘People said, ‘I’d NEVER choose an older kid.’ We decided to take them permanently. They’re not just ‘damaged goods.’: Family adopt daughter from foster care, ‘I can rest knowing she is loved’
“‘Their current foster home is abusive.’ When we dropped them back off, she yelled at us for giving them haircuts. Most days, it felt like the system simply didn’t care to provide what was necessary. I can rest now, knowing she is loved.”
‘Why didn’t your REAL mom keep you?’ I arrived at the orphanage basically dying. I’m grateful for her sacrifice.’: Transracial adoptee shares journey, ‘Love is so much more than DNA’
“She made a difficult decision. I was severely malnourished, with bowed legs, and developmentally delayed. I lost my family AND my country. It’s traumatic.”
‘I can’t go to juvie! You don’t know what they DO to people there!’ She choked out, ‘Will you be my parents?’ We were 23, newly engaged. Already a teenager, we were her only option left.’: Young couple adopt 5 children into ‘forever family’
“When I thought about my future as a quadriplegic, I didn’t think my dream of becoming a husband or dad were going to happen, much less 5 kids before marriage! God brought us these girls for a reason, and I was determined to give them all the love they needed.”
‘When will you make your own babies?’ I’ve never been pregnant, but I am a mother. She doesn’t have my skin color, but her little arms reached for me the very first time I called her name.’: Adoptive mom details emotional journey, ‘She is our Plan A’
“It didn’t happen the way we had imagined or planned, but she was always our Plan A. Every pain, every setback, every prayer was all worth it. She may not have my eyes, my hair, or my skin color, but she has my heart. I can’t imagine loving my little girl as anything less than a true daughter.”
‘Anthony was the ‘throw away child,’ in and out of foster care since 4 years old. I felt God calling on me: ‘He is yours.’: Family adopt teen stuck in foster care, ‘He’ll forever live in my heart’
“At 6 years old, his brother died of child abuse. He was separated from his sisters, adopted without him. People could not see the child he was going to become. They only saw the broken child. ‘Is he available for adoption?’ I was ready to be his mama.”
