Adoption Story: Travis and Wendy

A ten year journey to parenthood. Reading and praying through dozens of situations. Until finally, they had their son in their arms. Read Travis and Wendy's story of their adoption journey, their faith, and their family...

Adoption has made us parents, FINALLY! After 10 years of trying multiple options, our journey turned towards adoption and led us to our beautiful baby boy. Adoption has always been in the plan after children of our own, but God had other plans.

We started our journey in January of 2020. We presented thirty times until we heard a "yes" and were matched in June of 2022 with a baby girl. After getting to know the expecting mom, getting our nursery finished, and bags packed, waiting for "the" call to travel, we saw pictures of who we thought was our baby girl on social media. The mom had cut ties with the agency and our adoption was considered disrupted. While this mom had chosen to parent,  it was heartbreaking news for us. We didn't know if we would be able to continue emotionally or financially.

After a bit of heavy grieving, praying, and discussing our next steps, we decided to go active and try again. We applied to grants and started fundraising again, not knowing how we would recover. We were very guarded of the chance of hearing another 'no' or experiencing more disappointment. We decided to put everything in God's hands, knowing it would happen when the time was right.

Fast forward to October 2022 when we got a call saying a baby boy was born and the agency wanted to know if we would like to present. We didn't know a whole lot, but the little bit we knew, we felt right about jumping in. The next day, the agency asked if we could have a conference call with the birth mom as she had some questions for us. We were nervous, but so excited. After 30 seconds on the call, the only question the birth mom had for us was if we wanted to go pick up our son in Florida. "YES!" was the only word we could get out. We were over the moon excited and so emotional. We packed our bags, booked our flights from Minnesota, and went to meet our son. We were finally parents and so grateful to the sweetest birth mom for her courageous decision. We met and had lunch with her while discussing our goals for our open adoption and for our son. We have kept in contact with her and can't wait to continue getting to know her and visit in the future.

With the help and guidance of Susan, and resources from Christian Adoption Consultants, we felt more prepared for what to expect and answers to any questions we had. Susan helped us create a beautiful profile book that explains our story and who we are. We can't thank her and CAC enough for all their guidance! 

We have learned through our experience adoption is tough, but SO worth it. Giving up wouldn't have gotten us our perfect son or the chance at being parents. 

Adoption Story: Dan and Amanda

What are the steps to adoption? How do we create our profile? How do we make decisions about openness? How long will the wait be? Will we go through an interrupted adoption? There are dozens of good questions hopeful adoptive families have during the adoption process. But there's some questions that are often whispered in secret, in the midst of the long wait, when a couple will ask, "Is this worth it? Are we on the right track? Did we get it wrong when we heard from God?" 

Today Dan and Amanda share their journey, along with their questions in the midst of the process. How they were unsure they should continue but are so thankful they did. Because their response to was is worth it turned out to be a resounding YES when they met their daughter.

We always hoped adoption would be a part of our story one day. Honestly, we didn’t think it would happen as early in our life, but boy are we tremendously grateful that it did. After having our son, we prayed God would bless us with another baby. After struggling with infertility, we weren’t sure what direction God was leading us. It was times like these where I was so thankful for prayer. So thankful we have a God who is there to listen to us and comfort us in times of uncertainty and heartache. Dan and I spent several weeks in prayer, and we felt Him leading us to adoption. 

We started with Christian Adoption Consultants in February 2022, began doing our home study, and preparing our home, as well as our hearts for whatever baby we would be bringing into our home. Being the planner that I am, the wait was hard. The not knowing who, when, or where was something I really had to work through. “Let go and let God” was a phrase I repeated constantly. Several cases went by, and we never got a "yes." Of course, when we were not prepared for a “yes” was exactly when we got one.  

We had arrived to visit Dan’s family for Thanksgiving. We had not been there for 24 hours before we got a call from an agency saying that a baby girl had been born. It was at that moment we needed to drop everything and go halfway across the country to get her. We were completely unprepared, but of course, we made it work! The next morning, we hopped on a plane, not ready for what was to come next. Another “not yet” happened again. This mama decided to parent her baby girl and we were told that we could head home. I felt broken. The thought that we were right there, in a hotel across the street from the hospital, bags full of baby items, only to go home with an empty car seat was overwhelming. Dan and I sat in silence for a while and I sat at dinner that night with tears hitting my plate. 

But while we were hurting, God was at work. Our agency let us know there was another situation: a baby due in a few weeks. Not only was this baby due soon, but baby was also going to be born less than an hour from our home. We were so excited this could be the baby we could be hopeful for. To be honest, after our previous interrupted adoption, it was difficult for doubt to not enter in. Do I let myself get excited? Do I have everything ready to go? What if things fall through again? I told our consultant, Susan, we were trying to be cautiously optimistic and that this was another time where we could do nothing but lean on God, trust in Him, and leave it in His hands. 

Weeks went by and our agency reassured us the likelihood of this case falling through was slim. One night our dog was sick, I told Dan, “I should take him to the vet just in case this baby comes tomorrow”. I learned my lesson from being so unprepared when we were out of town. Sure enough, we got a call saying birth mom was in labor! We spent all night checking our phones, waiting, and waiting for an update. The next day, our baby girl was born. It took several hours for the hospital to add us to the visitor list so we could go meet her.

Once we were there, meeting our sweet daughter face to face, we knew the wait had been so worth it. The months of waiting, the paperwork, the “no’s,” the tears shed; they were all worth it for this one moment. The moment where the nurses brought us to an area where we could sit and hold our daughter for the first time. I had thought of this moment so many times. She was perfect. God’s plan and timing was perfect. 

We have now been a family of four for a month. It has been the best month I could have imagined. It has been a joy to watch our son with his baby sister. When I am rocking her to sleep in the middle of the night, I just sit there and reflect on the last couple of years that led us to where we are now. Struggling through fertility treatments, to starting the adoption process, to hearing several no’s from other cases, led us here. God led us here. He knew EXACTLY where we were headed. He knew that our baby girl was always meant for us, and for that, we are eternally grateful.