Adoption Story: Sam and Angela

The journey to parenthood is unique to every couple. For Sam and Angela, it was a seven year wait to becoming parents and a family of three. Today Angela shares the heartbreak and joys of finding their way to their son.

“Faithful is He who calls you, who also will do it.” - 1 Thessalonians 5:24

In March of 2021, we had already been trying for a family for five years. In our prayers and petition before the Lord, we were moved to explore adoption. Right when we started acknowledging adoption as an option, we started hearing from friends and family who were all tied to adoption! A friend of ours introduced us to Christian Adoption Consultants and spoke highly of the vetting process for the adoption agencies, the integrity of the organization, and the consultants’ advocacy for their clients. We reached out and connected with Susan. 

Soon after, I became pregnant for the first time, so pursuing adoption took a backseat. Fast forward to November: we went through a whirlwind of personal events–including two miscarriages. At the lowest point in our journey to growing our family, we were once again connected with Susan! This time around, we made the choice to move forward with a phone call with Susan. After our phone call, we were filled with a sense of life and peace. Sam and I looked at each other and knew we were being called to adopt. 

We quickly got to work – filling out paperwork, working on our profile book, starting our home study process, and sharing the exciting news with our friends and family. By March of 2022, we were home study approved and active with multiple agencies. During that first month, we received so many cases. At that pace, we were sure we’d be matched in no time! However, as the months went on, the cases started coming in much more slowly. 

After nine months of waiting, we expected a "not yet" every time we presented. We were questioning if there was something about us that the expecting moms didn’t like. Pregnancy announcements were becoming more difficult to receive. And our initial excitement was quickly dimming. We decided to pick ourselves out of the lull by planning a trip to visit my family overseas. We spent weeks looking online for the best flight deals and the best time to go. However, every time we found a good deal, something would hold us back from purchasing tickets. One night, I found myself asking God why it was so difficult to buy tickets? What was holding us back? 

A few days later, on December 8, 2022, we received an email about an expecting mom who was due in January. The expecting mom listed very specific criteria of what she was looking for in a family and we met every single one! We quickly decided to present, but ran into some technical difficulties with our background checks expiring soon. We shared with Susan that this case felt so different from all the other ones, and she reassured us she was advocating for us. A week later, we heard from the agency that the details had been worked out and the expecting mom wanted to have a phone call with us. 

I was a ball of nerves before the phone call. What if she didn’t like the way we talked? What if she changes her mind at the last minute? But the second we got on the phone with her, the nerves fell away. Our conversation with her flowed so easily. At the end of that conversation, she told us our favorite sentence of 2022, “Would you guys like to become parents to this baby?” 

I still remember the quiet moment of utter disbelief followed by the squeals of excitement and tears. This was it! We were finally becoming parents! We had two weeks to get everything ready. We packed our car with some baby essentials and headed down to Florida. Through a church friend, we were connected with a fellow believer who took us in and treated us like family. While we were down in Florida, she lodged us and fed us – no questions asked. We now lovingly call her “Granny Judy.”

(Baby’s first time at the beach with Granny Judy)

When we arrived at the hospital, we met up with the expecting mom in person for the first time. It still felt so surreal at that point. The hospital staff moved quickly, and within two hours, I was in scrubs and inside with her. I had envisioned how the delivery would be, but I was not prepared for the flood of emotions. As we held him in those first few moments, everything felt so unbelievable. 

(Our first selfie!)

However, we were still withholding our excitement, because we knew birth mom had 48 hours to change her mind. Those 48 hours were just as nerve wracking as the wait up until that point. But through all our education concerning adoption, we knew it was essential for mama to spend time with her baby. So as difficult as it was, we made sure to take him to his birth mom whenever she wanted to see him. Two days later, our attorney arrived and went to the birth mom’s room to sign the adoption paperwork. It felt like the longest wait. After a while, our attorney came into our room, smiled, and said she signed the papers. We were free to leave the hospital with our son! That was the first time we felt true relief in our entire adoption journey. Later on, his birth mom shared with us that she was grateful for those 48 hours with us. She felt like that time she had with him and us in the hospital helped her realize that she was making the right decision. 

After 7 years of waiting, struggling, doubting, praying, and petitioning, we were parents. In the beginning of our adoption journey, we thought becoming parents through adoption depended on how hard working we were. If we could apply to enough agencies, present the best profile, or write a good enough letter to the birth mom, we’d be parents in no time. However, through our 10 months of waiting to be matched, we realized that becoming parents through adoption requires our absolute dependence on God who is the Faithful One. If you are on this journey, know it's okay and normal to question and doubt, but also be reassured this is not where the Lord wants to leave you. Because He is the One who has called us to adoption, He is also the faithful One who will complete it. 

(The glasses are not real–just cute!)

Adoption Story: Kevin and Kaylee

So often in adoption, once the paperwork is complete, the home study done, and the applications turned in, it can feel like nothing is happening. Like the adoption journey has come to an abrupt halt as you wait to be chosen and matched with an expectant family. The silence can be deafening and the lack of movement paralyzing. But so often, God is working behind the scenes, maybe even across the country, preparing all of the details in His perfect timing. Kevin and Kaylee know about the agonizing wait. And they also know about God amazing faithfulness.

“I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait, and in His word I put my hope." Psalm 130:5

Ever since I was a little girl, I couldn’t wait to become a mom. Whenever asked “what do you want to be when you grow up?” The answer was always “a mommy!” And after marrying my college sweetheart, we were both so excited to start our family. Years of infertility and multiple miscarriages were definitely not an expected part of the plan. We felt an incredibly deep sadness, and were worried we would never become parents. Then a good friend told us about Susan at Christian Adoption Consultants, and encouraged us to reach out. 

We started our adoption journey in January of 2022. While adoption wasn’t part of our original plan, we felt like this was what God wanted us to do. We started the process full of hope and excitement. By May of 2022, paperwork was done and we were officially on waitlists. Checking our phones constantly, we waited with anticipation. 

The excitement slowly started to drift as we heard nothing for months. Why weren’t we hearing anything? Was something wrong? Were our names really on the waitlists? Susan continued to encourage us to stay hopeful and trust God’s plan. Some days, it was easy to do. Others, we were full of doubt. 

When we finally started hearing from the agencies, it was an emotional rollercoaster. A moment of hope and excitement would quickly be diminished by another “no.” It’s so hard to be so vulnerable and put yourself out there only to be told “they picked someone else.” After a handful of “no’s” and our paperwork expiration dates creeping up, we truly felt like we might be at the end of our adoption road. We felt extremely defeated, frustrated, and hopeless. 

Then in January of 2023, almost exactly a year after we first talked to Susan, we got a phone call. 

We were matched on a Monday night and our precious girl was born two days later. We truly felt like we were living in a dream. It was a whirlwind of emotions; joy, excitement, nervousness, fear of another possible “no.” But all fears washed away as we held her and started to bond with her incredible birth parents. 

We are in total awe of God’s faithfulness. He knew all along that this was our daughter. Through all of the “not yets,” the tears, the worries… our daughter was growing and preparing for her entrance into the world. The road to get here was HARD. But now holding this amazing gift in our arms, it was absolutely worth it.