A rush to finalize before a teen turns 18 On a cold Thursday in January, Jeff received the call that started a flurry of events to adopt his fourth son. He had been home study approved for about a year and a half and was specifically waiting for a teen who needed a family. “When
A Millennial’s Guide to Foster Care and Adoption
If someone would have told me 10 years ago that I’d be married to my high school sweetheart and have two kids at 25, I would have said, “You’re nuts.” But, that’s exactly what happened. I met my husband in the summer of 2008. We were 17 and just about to start our senior year
Five Years
It’s hard to believe that it has been five years since Hope moved in from her last foster home. In some ways it seems like it couldn’t possibly be that long; in other ways it feels like a lifetime ago. I’m about 15 lbs. heavier, and I have a LOT more gray hair than I
14 Years Ago I Got “The Call”
On his birthday last week Tea (Sammy’s birthmom) texted to let me know she’d reached Sam to wish him a happy birthday. She said he told her he was “skating w/ a bunch of white ppl. Lol.” I wrote back, “Wait did he tell you that was his idea?! Going to a movie with a bunch of not
Raymani Wins Hearts Like a Superhero
3-year-old Raymani and 5-year-old Jesse still talk about Dec. 14, 2017. It was “Big Brother Day,” a day when Jesse showed his new little brother how to build toys at Build-a-Bear and they went to lunch at Noodles & Co. with their moms and 7-year-old sister, Railyn. Raymani had always been wary of the social
Life Changes When You Adopt from Foster Care
During this season of giving we find ourselves reflecting on all the wonderful gifts we received this year—the greatest of which was the adoption of our bright daughters Sky (8) and Leyna (7). We chose to adopt a sibling group from foster care and have been on an incredible journey in becoming their forever family.
Making Memories to Last a Lifetime on Tour Korea
There are many things to praise about Tour Korea, but I will focus on three: First, extraordinary staff accompanied us. A birthland tour for adoptees is not a typical sightseeing jaunt. There are serious, emotional components for children and parents that may, and probably will, arise. Tour Korea allowed families to meet personnel from Korean
Adoption is What Made Us a Family
8-year-old Jonah and 11-year-old Isaac look forward to attending Adoption Day Camp one week every summer. They canoe, swim and play games to develop team-building skills. They and their fellow campers, some years numbering as many as 100, also gain self-esteem, become more secure in their identity as adoptees and learn critical tools to use
Why Adopt?
Why did we choose to adopt? This was a question we got A LOT when we started telling people we were in the process of adopting a child. The question that usually immediately followed, both said and unsaid, was “Why adopt if you’re able to have biological children?” It’s a valid question. Adoption has always
A Very Foster Christmas and an Adoptive New Year
Joyful Noize Productions is putting together a show celebrating the foster/adoption community and YOU are the stars. They have an open call for story tellers who want to share their first-person foster or adoption story—these can be foster/adopted youth, grown up youth, siblings, parents, and kinship folks. As a story teller, you will tell your
