Our Story...

Our love story began right after high school graduation.  It is one of those stories that sounds all too familiar.  A boy and girl meet; they fall in love; the rest is history.  Andy and I were smart, so we think, and got married after I graduated from college.  He, on the other hand, took the 5-year route and still had another year to go.  Either way, we were married and ready to start our happily ever after.

Fast forward about 5 years.  Our love story seemed to be missing a piece.  We loved each other tremendously, but wanted to share that love with a child of our own.  We thought it would be incredibly easy to have a baby.  Maybe a wink at each other and BAM, we're having a baby!  Totally not the case.

Fast forward 4 years to the summer of 2013.  Andy and I discussed our incredibly strong desire to have children.  Both of us agreed genetics are not what creates a family.  Heck, with our genetics, it might be a blessing for the baby.  ;-)  Our quest for adoption began.

Fall 2013, the mountain paperwork for adoption started.  We answered questions about us and our family.  We set a budget for our adoption.  We looked about medical history, pregnancy history and so on to determine what we're okay with.  In fact, we joked it felt more like choosing a make and a model of a child.  Maybe poor taste in humor, but it got us through the hard stuff.

We shared our decision for adoption with our family, friends, and work.  I told my staff during a staff meeting by saying, "I'm having a baby.  I don't know who the father is because we're adopting."  Needless to say, many were confused and many thought it was hysterical when they came to the realization what I was meaning.  Each person we shared our story with was incredibly supportive with our choice.  Many had questions about the process, shared how adoption touched their lives, and asked about timelines. 

In November and December 2013, that is when everything became really deep.  We began creating our profile for birth moms.  We wrote, erased, wrote, and rewrote some more as we tried to show who were are.  Imagine trying to show your life in a nutshell.  That's what we tried to do through pictures, writing, and video.  It's scary and exciting all at the same time.  Our poor family and friends probably thought we were insane during this time.  As we created the video, they had to sign releases and answer a ton of questions.  They also had to deal with our, or MY, hypersensitivity.  Since our profile is removed from the agency's site, here are some screenshots of our profile. 

Our home study also began in December.  We had a total of 2 home studies with lots of questions and lots of paperwork...again.  The awkward questions were the pieces I remember the most.  Questions ranged from why I love Andy, to how I was disciplined as a child, to my non-relationship with my dad.    Our social worker was fantastic at trying to put us at ease.  She shared with us her experience with adoptive families and the timeframe.  Some couples brought home their baby in weeks and a few couples took several months.  She provided a lot of hope that our family would be completed soon.

After our home study, profile, and video, we were "active" on January 22, 2014.  We could be shown to birthmoms.  So...the waiting began.