The Beginning

Many of you may be wondering why we've decided to adopt a 3rd child.  The reason is that we both feel strongly that we've been called by God to have another child.  We both feel as though having 3 children will complete our family.  When we began talking about having a 3rd child, inevitibly the discussion came around to Aidan & Gavin and how they were both born premature.  Aidan, being 6 weeks premature and Gavin being over 2 months premature.  We felt as though there were potentially incredible risks and long term health issues for our 3rd child if we decided to have another biological child.  We also factored in the unbelievable physical, mental & emotional stress for us and our extended family & friends in that scenario.  With a lot of prayer and discussion, we decided adoption was the best option for us.  We feel that there are so many babies that are born into this world that need a loving, caring, safe home and we know we can provide that.

When the decision was made to adopt, the natural questions was: where from?  We researched domestic & international adoptions and also did a lot of research on several adoption agencies.  Initially, we were thinking of adopting from China, but that idea quickly turned when we found out we'd have to potentially wait for up to 6 years to adopt there.  We researched other countries such as Hong Kong, Vietnam, Eastern European countries, African countries, South American countries and felt as though none were the right fit for us.  Then we turned our focus to domestic adoptions.  We researched going through the foster care system and fostering and eventually adopting a baby from Oregon.  The downside of that for us was the fact that we could have this little baby and raise it for several years, only to have the baby eventually taken from us and returned to his or her birthparents.  We came to the conclusion that the Oregon foster program wasn't for us either.

As some of you may know, some very good friends of ours adopted their little boy a little over a year ago.  They adopted him through the African-American Infant program.  Seeing their family and how blessed they have been put a soft spot in our hearts for the program.  After much prayer, research and discussion, we have decided to adopt from the same program.  Although we would prefer to have a little girl to go with our boys, we feel as though any child God blesses us with will be an incredible gift and will be loved and cherished as our own.