Our Adoption Story

I have always wanted to adopt. For as long as I can remember, adoption has always been a part of how I saw my future. When preparing for marriage, Joe and I talked about a plan for our future adoption- we would have two biological children, then when they were older, we would adopt older children locally. This was our plan for a very long time.

Becoming bilingual

After having our two wonderful boys, I started to feel more urgency in adopting. I longed for a daughter and the experiences our family would have if we added a little girl. Joe wasn't quite ready to take the leap, as this was new to him. Not what we had planned. We continued to do research into the requirements, possible outcomes, and resources available for a family grown through adoption. We also continued to discuss the topic regularly- as a family, as a couple, and with those we knew who had adopted. As the months passed, we chipped away at the mountain of decisions to be made and the details to be sorted out.

Many months ago, we landed on the plan to adopt internationally. We had always planned to adopt a local child through DHS, but our hopes for the adoption seemed unlikely enough through this process, that two DHS employees told us that international adoption would be our best option. We still weren't quite ready to apply, but we had made a big decision.

The boys picking out gifts

In September, I heard about an adoption support group which meets monthly in our town. We decided to attend the meeting to learn more about the process from the experiences of people who had lived it. After each class, we had endless discussions about what we learned, heard, and thought. It brought us a bit closer.

Then the big day came. Early in November, a member of the support group we have been attending, contacted me with the profile of an adorable little girl from South Korea. She was a "waiting child", meaning there was some prenatal health concerns. We requested her file and applied with our chosen agency that same day. After reading over the file on our own, we felt like we needed a bit more information to make the best decision for our family (but I had already fallen in love with her and hoped beyond belief that she was meant to be our daughter). We sent her medical files to a doctor who specializes in adoption. After the doctor's file review and our conversation about her findings, we were sure. We wanted her to be our daughter.

Our first care package

There were other families who also felt a connection with her and also wanted to pursue adoption, so we went through a process called committee. During this process, we filled out questionnaires about our family, our knowledge of her medical file and possible future concerns, and how we saw this little lady fitting into our family. We submitted the paperwork the week before Thanksgiving. We were told then that because of the holiday, committee likely would not take place until the first week of December. We nervously settled in for the long wait.

........and then there is the food

I got the call around noon, the day before Thanksgiving, that she was ours. Since hearing the news, Joe and I have been fingerprinted twice, filled out mountains of forms, taken class after class, and have been excitedly talking about Miss May non-stop. Our boys ask about her every day. In fact, Nolan has already started to blame her for the naughty things that he does.

We have only been a part of the adoption family for a couple of months, and we have meet some amazing people and created friendships that seem to have been bonded for years. We are thrilled to have a little girl to join in our adventures, we are excited beyond belief to bring the Korean culture into our home and make it a part of our family, and we can not wait for the day we get to snuggle our beautiful little Maylee Grace.

Anxiously awaiting sister