Adoption Panel

It's kinda like a solar panel but fueled by hot air.

On Thursday Jake & I, along with baby Nori, are going to sit on a panel at Lutheran Social Services' Adoptive Parent Training for waiting couples to speak about our experiences. We can thrill with them with the story of going to the Women's Correctional Facility to meet a recovering crack addict (we didn't even have to go through a metal detector!) or prepare them to get their "hearts ripped out" (quote by Andy Ho) if a match fails.

Really, we have only positive things to say and even during the the not-so-fun times we knew it would all work out...we were holding out for our girl! At our training last June I remember there were a lot of questions about openness and what a relationship with a birth family is really like. I got really sick of hearing "it depends" or "every situation is different". I wanted an example! I will bring a copy of the newspaper article and some photos from the hospital. Currently, there is a lot of upheaval in the adoption world as several big international programs just closed thus driving up the demand and wait times for domestic adoption.

I am grateful for our experience and enjoy sharing how joyful adoption can be with others, many of whom have experienced extreme sadness on their quest to become parents. Hopefully they can see that adopting is NOT second rate but a wonderful, amazing way to create a family that allows you to wear a bikini instantly afterwards. (In case you don't know, that is the real reason we adopted, Jake did not want me to gain any weight).