Adoption: Melissa's Story

by Melissa J | More from this Blogger

09 Aug 2006 01:08 PM

Unlike many couples who seek adoption, my husband and I didn't pursue for fertility reasons-at least not initially. We were in our early 20's and had heard there were many kids in our own state waiting for a forever family. We had love to share and an extra bedroom available. We started the adoption process by attending an orientation at our county's Department of Human Resources (DHS). Upon hearing about the various special needs of the children waiting in the system, we thought it would be better to wait to adopt.

We decided to focus on trying to conceive. After months of nothing happening, we got back on the adoption path. We were open to whichever road led us to becoming parents first. In the mean time, we just prayed for our future family. We prayed for a child out there, whether born or not, that God would prepare us for our meeting. We prayed too they might come from a Christian home.

In April of 2002, after a few different invasive tests, we found out we were infertile. It did hurt to hear, but we were also glad we were already in the process of waiting for an adoptive placement. It was only 4 months later that our 13 month old son came to us. He had been in a Christian home with a family who'd prayed for a Christian couple to adopt him. What a blessing! Our son's adoption finalized on his second birthday in 2003.

When our son was over 2 ½, we got a call to take in a foster placement that looked like it might go to adoption. My husband and I previously agreed we'd never do foster care in hopes of adopting because of the risk of losing the child. We prayed though and felt a tremendous peace about moving forward. Our second son came to us from a Christian foster home at 5 months old. His foster mother had prayed for a Christian family that would take him in and adopt him. After a very emotional 2 years, our son became legally ours April 28th of 2006.

Two precious boys, from two different backgrounds, brought together as brothers. I never felt like I chose second best in adoption. I believe God knew before we did how our family would be made. He put that desire in our hearts to adopt. We are so humbled to have been chosen to parent these two great boys.

(Melissa is a Families.com Christian Blogger. Read her blogs at: http://members.families.com/mj7/blog)

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Grammi58 (396) 13 Aug 2006 09:39 AM

MJ-Thank you for your story. I'm sure it will enlighten other couples to look into adoption. Whether those boys are your biological or adopted, they are still your sons. I'm sure that your family agrees with me. Your parents are probably really proud of your sons(and also being grandparents). As I commented in another blog of yours, I almost put my child up for adoption. I was young & not married at the time. After my child was a few months old, the child's father & I got married.

Melissa J (13710) 13 Aug 2006 08:21 PM

Thanks Grammi for sharing. What a blessing that you and your child stayed together! I'll be thinking of them now you couldn't imagine life without them.

Jilly-Bean (5) 21 Jul 2008 06:15 PM

Thanks so much for sharing this story. My husband and I have recently started the adoption process and I was starting to have some doubts that we were doing the right thing. I looked for some on-line support to reassure me that we are doing what God wants of us right now and your article helped me to see that we are on the right track. Thanks again!