Our Chosen Path...

Hi!

A and I talked a lot about what to post on our Blog this week and we decided that we really needed to post about how we came to adoption... Not only how we came to adoption in general but also specifically Korean adoption. So here goes our story:

We get lots of questions on our "fertility issues" and really wanted to clear the air that our fertility ( or lack there of) is unknown to us! A and I talked long and hard about how we wanted to have a family and even before we were married we had the idea of adoption in our heads. Come to think of it, I have always loved the idea of adoption- even as a child! I specifically grew up with a lot of knowledge about adoption- my mom is adopted, my childhood best friend's mom was adopted, my Godparents adopted both of their children- it's just always been apart of my life! Same thing for A- his Godparents also adopted both of their children. So, we think that God had it very planned out that we were meant to build our family through adoption! We honestly think this is the COOLEST thing in the world and wouldn't trade it for anything...

We get lots of people (friends, family and strangers) who come up to us and act like adoption was a second choice for us. IT WASN'T! :-) We couldn't be happier with the plan that God had for us. I get a lot of sad faces from people who think it is sad that I haven't experienced pregnancy or child birth- I think they think I must feel like I missed out on something- I don't think that I have! :-) While I am sad that we missed the first 9 months of C's life- We are not sad with the amazing process of adoption. How amazing is it that C has had so many loving and caring people come into his life?!? How amazing is it that even though I didn't "grow" C in my tummy, he Grew in our hearts thousands of miles from us and God still placed the PERFECT child for us in our lives? Not to mention, I have made some AMAZING friends through our adoption journey- friends that I never would have made otherwise- they live in California and across the United States- also a huge blessing! Everyone has a different perspective on how to grow the perfect family and our PERFECT family is going to be grown through adoption! This is truly what we both feel God wants for our family and it is what A and I are both at peace with! Please be excited for us because we are so excited for ourselves!

Now- the next question we often get is- "why did you choose Korea?" Let me just say that while people may think we CHOSE Korea- Korea actually chose us! Yes, it is true that originally we started the adoption process with Korea in mind. My godparents children are both from Korea and I have always adored them! A's godparents also have a child from Korea. Korea has AMAZING medical care for their children and this country also tries to find out as much as possible about the children's birth parents. So, with all that in mind- in Oct. of 2005 A and I went to our first adoption information meeting through Bethany with Korea as the country we wanted to adopt from. It just so happened that Bethany (the one in Modesto, CA) didn't place "Healthy" children from Korea into families from our area. They told us to try Holt International. Fast forward to December 2006 and we sent in our initial application to Holt and put down that we wanted to adopt from Korea. Fast forward to April of 2007 and for some reason, A and I started looking into adopting older children from the United states. We really thought this was what we were going to do and were totally up for the challenge! Then, on Sept. 11, 2007 Holt International called me to tell me that they had a referral for us from Korea. Low and behold, I hadn't taken us off the list to be matched with waiting children from Korea. As most of you know, we waited for Ezekiel (our first referral) for 5 months before finding out that we couldn't take care of his special needs. It was absolutely heartbreaking for us. However, I truly believe this was God's way of getting our attention back to Korean adoptions and preparing our hearts for C. So- essentially Korea really did choose us! And boy are we glad for that because what a blessing from God we have been given in C!

SO- that is our family's path so far- we are so blessed to have all of you be apart of our journey and we look forward to sharing many more of our family moments with you!

~M & A~

PS- C is doing well this week. He is recovering from his first cold and that has been an experience all in itself! ;-)