Adoption Option: What Do You Say To Someone Who Is Struggling With Infertility?

A lot of couples are becoming more and more open about their struggles with infertility.  Many turn to their family and friends for support and encouragement.  What can you say to a friend or family member that will help them feel better when they come to you?

Adoption Option: Teaching Your Children About Their Adoption

My oldest daughter knows she is adopted. How have we approached that subject? Well, we have told her from the day she was born about her miracle arrival into our family. As she grows up, there will never be a time she can look back on that she didn't know where she came from. She will have always known.

Adoption Option: Keeping A Toddler Busy

Toddlers.  I love mine. She can bring a smile to my face one minute, and make me want to fly the coop the next. She makes me so proud. I have really enjoyed being her mother.  But, let's tell the truth here. Toddlerhood, just as any stage of child rearing I'm sure, can be very challenging.  Add other children, or a baby to that, and things can become very tricky.  Toddlers are just busy. They love to be constantly occupied by something.  My toddler is almost a preschooler now, but we have come up with a lot of fun things to keep busy with that she really loves.

Adoption Option: Spring Chick Cupcakes

 I made these adorable cupcakes for our Easter party tomorrow.  They are so delicious, they are sure to be loved by not only the kids, but the adults too.  If you need an easy family friendly dessert idea for Easter or for a Spring party, then you ought to give these a try!

Adoption Option: Openness In Adoption

When I was in college, I had to write a research paper and give a presentation for an English class.  The topic I chose was 'Adoption: Open vs. Closed'. I learned a lot from this research and came to the concluding opinion that an open adoption seemed to be the best option for both the birth parents and the adoptive parents.  Little did I know, some years later, I would be sitting on my couch with two beautiful daughters and their birth mother. 

Adoption Option: Our Baby Girl Is Born!

We were counting the days until our new baby would join our family.  Every time the phone rang, both my husband and I would bolt to the phone and look at each other as if to say "This could be THE call."  We were getting very excited for the baby to be born.  Finally, on a Sunday morning we were getting ready to leave for church and we got the call!

Adoption Option: Adoption Is A Miracle

A couple years after we adopted our daughter, we started thinking about adding another child to our family.  We had a lot of options to consider.  Do we want to adopt again? Or do we want to go back to the doctor and try the infertility treatments again?  My husband really wanted to try to have a biological child.  That was hard for me to be on board with because I had worked so hard to let that part of me go.

Adoption Option: Placement

There's an ache that's missing today

There's an emptiness that's been filled

There's a cloud that's lifting and drifting away

There's a ragin' storm that's been stilled

There's a joy that's real

There's a wound that's finally healed

There's a future replacing a past

There's a breath of new life in the cast

Words and music by Michael McLean

Adoption Option: The Day We Met Our Baby

The day we met our baby girl was a day filled with emotions. Most of which we had never felt before. It's hard to look back on that day without tears coming to my eyes. I can see it like it was just yesterday. Every feeling and every moment of that day is ingrained into my heart and mind.

Adoption Option: How We Found Our Baby

When my husband and I came to the decision that adoption was the way we should start our family, we were very excited!  We decided to just go for it, and we started the adoption process.

Coming to the realization that adoption doesn't have to be a "Plan B" was very comforting. We knew this was the way we wanted children to join our family. How our children came to our family would not matter.  What mattered was, they would be ours, just as if they had been born to us. 

Adoption Option: Insight From A Dear Abby Reader

My Husband and I received this article in an adoption class and I really liked it. I want to share it with others to help them understand what it's like to go through the process of adoption.

Dear Abby:  A few years ago you printed an essay titled "Welcome to Holland" by Emily Perl Kingsley.  The subject was having a child with Down Syndrome.  Enclosed is an article my daughter, Diane Armitage, wrote inspired by "Welcome to Holland."  Her message is directed to childless couples who are considering adoption.  (Diane and her husband are the parents of two adopted children.)  Perhaps you will consider it worth publishing.

-Kathryn Relnalda, Blairstown, NJ 

Adoption Option: Our Journey Down The Road Of Infertility

The roads of life can take many forms. Some roads are long and some are short. Sometimes they are smooth with not many curves or bumps and have beautiful views. Others might be dark and long, with a lot of turns and hills or mountains. They can also be full of big pot holes and bumps. Sometimes you have to, or want to, turn back. But, when you come to the end of a road like this, the views are more spectacular and the peace is greater.

My husband and I have been down these roads.