Ryan has never met his birth mother who put him up for adoption when she realized she faced an unplanned pregnancy. Now 30 years old, Ryan was placed with his adoptive family as a baby. Ryan shares his feelings not only about his adoption, but the admiration he feels for his birth mother. He eloquently shares how grateful he is that she chose adoption instead [...]
I decided to plan adoption for my child to give him something I couldn’t provide: my full attention. The love for him I have is free and bountiful. Yes, I would have been able to scrape together food, clothes and shelter for him, but in the end my full attention would not have been there for him. The three children I have now and myself [...]
We knew we wanted to become parents again but we weren’t sure what avenue to pursue. After reading an article in the paper several years ago featuring a group of families in North Carolina who had adopted an entire choir full of boys from Liberia, we knew our hearts weren’t ever going to be the same. Our prayers of direction were finally answered, so off [...]
For Jane and Jim of Texas, the idea of adoption had never been a subject of daily conversation; with so many other tasks at hand, the time just never seemed right. When the couple was unable to conceive biologically, though, Jane began researching international and domestic adoption programs. Although Jim appeared less interested in the topic while Jane continued research, the tables turned quickly when [...]
Our adoption story began after hearing a sermon given by our pastor who had just returned from China with his new daughter. After the birth of our son, Dayton, 11 years ago, we were unable to have another child. We didn’t have many options when it came to adding to our family, and after hearing about our pastor’s journey to his daughter, we knew that [...]
We are so thrilled since returning home from China with Miyah on November 8, 2006!! We talk daily about how we are happier than we ever thought we could be!!!! We are just so in love with this little girl—she has truly enriched our lives beyond words. It sounds cliché, but we cannot remember what it was like to not have her be a part [...]
After having joined their biological families 12 years ago, Tracey and Chris thoroughly enjoyed time spent with their family of six. A few years ago, however, the couple wondered whether they should expand their family and have another child to love, which is when their hearts were led to adoption. With an indifference to domestic or international adoption, the two took their social worker’s recommendation [...]
Since we’ve been married, our discussions of having a family always seemed to include both biological and adopted children. Adoption (both domestic and international) has played a large role in the growth of both of our families, so starting our own family in this way seemed natural. After doing some research, we were drawn to adopting from Africa. This was mostly because of the tremendous [...]
After adopting three children domestically, we decided to pursue international adoption for our fourth child because we knew that there were waiting FAMILIES here, but waiting CHILDREN in other countries. We were open to children of any race, and after seeing pictures of children from Ethiopia we knew right away that this country was the best match for our family. We traveled to Ethiopia to [...]
When I was 16, I was hanging out with the wrong crowd, and I started to make bad choices. Before long, I found out I was pregnant. I had already broken up with the father of the baby, and I knew I didn’t want to get back with him just because I was facing an unplanned pregnancy. The truth is, I didn’t know what to [...]
