Adoption Paths to Parenthood

One of the most popular questions we have been asked is about the different types of adoption, specifically international and foster care. We are so glad to hear that so many of our loved ones are aware that there is more than one adoption route and supportive of our choice to adopt. We also appreciate those of you have reached out to us and shared how adoption has played a role in your family. It’s been encouraging to hear! 

5 Reasons We’re NOT “Just Adopting”

Bet you had to read the title twice, right? First, we still plan to adopt. Second, we’re not “just adopting.” It’s a phrase that tends to be tossed around when couples find out they’re infertile. The connotation is that adoption is easy. We’d argue it’s not, and we’re just in the beginning stages.

What’s Private about “Private Adoption”?

We know there are a lot of questions about adoption, and we wanted to share the information we’ve learned. We’re tagging these posts as “Information Series” in hopes it will be easier for everyone to find. Let us know what questions you have about adoption. Others may have the same questions.

Just when we thought we had the adoption lingo down, we found a new one: private adoption. Sure, we’ve heard the phrase, but it’s not used by Virginia adoption advocates very often. We hear the phrase mostly by friends, family, and out-of-state sources, but what does it really mean?

How Open Is Open?

We posted a couple weeks ago about open adoption. We appreciate Amanda over at “From My Plan to His” for being so candid about her feelings throughout the open adoption of her children. We encourage you to hop on over to her blog to check out how one family has managed the adoption process and the relationships that came along with it. Thanks for sharing your journey, Amanda! ~Chris and Jessica

From My Plan To His

Every family that has an open adoption faces the trial of defining what open adoption will look like for their family. There are numerous variables within the complex adoption triad that determine what will work best for that particular situation.

For us, we had only decided to change from a semi-open adoption to open three days prior to Turkey-man’s birth. This did not leave us with much time to really pinpoint exactly what both we and his birthmother envisioned for the long-term relationship.

When we had the discussion of changing the status it was left as roughly a couple of meetings per year. In my heart, I knew it would be more frequent than that but it was going to take some blind maneuvering to figure out what was right for us.

Six weeks after Turkey-man’s birth the adoption agency gave us a heads up that Mama-A had inquired about setting…

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How Open is Open Adoption?

We know there are a lot of questions about adoption, and we wanted to share the information we’ve learned. Some of you have asked us questions you have, and we’ve done our best to answer them directly. We know that others may have the same questions, so we are also sharing here. We’re tagging these posts as “Information Series” in hopes it will be easier for everyone to find.

Another common adoption question we have received is about open adoption, but it’s sometimes worded, “Do you want a closed adoption?” Opened? Closed? Wait, what?

Finding the “Just Right” Adoption Agency

We know there are a lot of questions about adoption, and we wanted to share the information we’ve learned. Some of you have asked us questions you have, and we’ve done our best to answer them directly. We know that others may have the same questions, so we are also sharing here. We’re tagging these posts as “Information Series” in hopes it will be easier for everyone to find.

We’ve mentioned online and during conversations about “meetings” or “adoption orientations.” People have asked us about these meetings. What are they? Simply, they are meetings held by adoption agencies to discuss their programs and adoption, in general.

Thankful for Fun, Food, and Family

We started off our holidays last week by cooking and packing on Wednesday. Chris tried making rolls-Parker house rolls. Despite Jessica’s skepticism, they turned out great! We like love bread. We also picked up Jessica’s Aunt Debbie and Uncle Robert from the airport. They flew in from Florida, and it was nice to see them. This year we celebrated Thanksgiving with Jessica’s family. Not everyone was able to make it, but it was good to see those we could.

Six Degrees of Separation – Adoption Edition

We mentioned in our “Dear Family & Friends” post that many adoptions occur through acquaintances. We don’t have an official statistic, but the general consensus of the adoption social workers we have spoken with say that it is happening more and more. They suggested that the couples who are more open about their desire to adopt are more likely to be matched.

You may have heard of the six degrees of  separation theory. If not, it’s simply a theory that suggests that everyone on Earth is no more than six links away from everyone else in the world. We want to see how well we can match that theory with our adoption experience.

Dear Family & Friends

This post is largely made up of a letter we sent to extended family members and friends to share our desire to adopt. The outpouring of love we received was phenomenal.

We want to share a part of our lives we have kept relatively private for the last couple of years. Despite desperately wanting and trying to start a family, we have been unsuccessful. After testing, we were officially diagnosed with infertility. We decided to pursue fertility treatments but without success.

You may be asking yourself why we kept our infertility a secret. To be honest, we truly believed the next month or with the next treatment we would be expecting. We wanted to surprise everyone and share our excitement with you instead of the pain of infertility. Unfortunately, that day never arrived.