January thru May Update

Hmmm...maybe I'm moving to quarterly updates? Things are that slow around here...

Honestly, our adoption journey has been rough so far this year and I haven't wanted to share too much. We are at the point that things have taken so long that I've read a number of blogs where families have been blessed by adoption twice during the same timeframe that we've been waiting. I know this isn't something to be making comparisons on, but I can't help see what feels like our standing in place. We're stuck.

We have had some situations come up over the past several months that seemed very promising, but nothing has panned out. Two situations in particular have pulled most at our heart strings and have left us wondering how much longer we can keep getting our hopes up and then have it not work out.

We picked up and left town on a road trip (with very little notice) to meet birthparents in March. We were absolutely enamored by the couple and thought our meeting had went well. They met with two other couples as well and picked one of them instead of us.

The most recent situation has been the hardest. A baby boy was brought to our attention about a month ago. An agency that doesn't typically network with ours was seeking any couples open to a rather complicated situation. We initially passed on the situation, but after much prayer and a series of events we emailed our agency back and asked if our profile could still be shown to the mother. It turns out that there wasn't exactly a long line for this little guy. You see, it was expected that he was going to be medically fragile. It turns out he was so fragile that after crying upon his arrival he was almost immediately ventilated and his little life lasted no longer than a couple of days. We had little control over the situation and kept wanting to know more about what was going on. What we did have control over was our prayer. I don't know why God brought this baby boy to our attention, but I am certain He did it for a reason. As a case worker from our agency said we "gave that birthmom hope that her baby would be loved regardless." I hope this is true. I know there were many prayers said for baby boy and have a sneaky suspicion that he has a couple uncles of sorts showing him the ropes in Heaven.

I remember reading an interview that Mariska Hargitay had given after she birthed one and adopted two children. She shared the sentiment that adoption is not for the faint of heart. She shared this after her and her husband parented for 3 days before the birthmother changed her mind and chose to parent herself. I seem to agree and understand more and more...adoption is not for the faint of heart...I know there are much tougher situations that people go through everyday, but my heart is becoming quite tender and hope the road isn't too much longer (or any more rough).