Family

Deployment and Adoption Do Mix!

Adoption, Family, Parenting - , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , -

Since Sean was deployed to Kuwait July 2006 when the opportunity to adopt Anna came along, adoptive mom  Maryellen enlisted the help of two good friends when it was time for placement day since Dad couldn’t be there to meet his baby girl for the first time!  The placement was videotaped for Sean. Federal express and the military’s JAG were used to get Sean’s signature there in Kuwait on the legal placement documents. Although Anna was 5 months old before Sean got to see her in person, there were plenty of pictures, emails and phone calls before then. It was a great homecoming when he was able to get leave in January 2007 for a visit!

It’s 2012, and Sean, Maryellen and Anna are ready to add another member to their family.  Is the birth mother of their next baby reading this blog?

Thanks to Sean, Maryelle and Anna  for allowing us to tell the story of their adoptive family.

Do you have a story you’d like to tell?  Email us at blog.ach@foryourlife.com.  Visit us at www.AChildsHope.com, or call our Birth Mother Hotline at 1-877-890-HOPE (4976) so one of our adoption counselors can answer your questions confidentially.

Please remember that this is a public site open to anyone; therefore, anything you post can be seen by anyone.

They Always Talked About Adoption….

Adoption, Family, Parenting - , , , , , , , , , , , , -

Mike and Hannah met in college and have been married for 20 years! They always wanted children, whether biologically or through adoption. They were not successful at fertility treatments, but they took that as a sign that God has a child He wants them to adopt and raise as their own. They both work as accountants and enjoy traveling, biking and doing home repairs.  Mike and Hannah have the stability and love for a child and hope to match with the right birth parents soon!

Thanks to Mike and Hannah for allowing us to tell their story.

Do you have a story you’d like to tell?  Email us at blog.ach@foryourlife.com.  Visit us at www.AChildsHope.com, or call our Birth Mother Hotline at 1-877-890-HOPE (4976) so one of our adoption counselors can answer your questions confidentially.

Please remember that this is a public site open to anyone; therefore, anything you post can be seen by anyone.

Financial Help is Available to Birth Mothers!

Adoption, Family, Parenting - , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , -

One of the questions we often hear at A Child’s Hope:  “Is financial assistance available for me while I’m pregnant?”

The law in most states allows adoptive families to provide reasonable support for a birth mother to help with expenses related to the pregnancy and delivery. Some birth mothers do not need assistance, while others find themselves in a situation where they cannot take care of themselves or the baby they are carrying without financial help.  Adoptive families can provide that help.

Help with expenses can come in many forms: Gift cards can be provided for grocery stores,  gas stations and stores that carry other supplies and clothing, such as Wal-mart and Target. Some bills, like utilities, can be paid directly to the provider. Birth mothers can also receive support in the form of medical care.  At A Child’s Hope, we help you determine if you qualify for Medicaid and help you find a clinic that is convenient.

Our adoption counselors will advise you about the types of expenses covered and help you set a budget so assistance can be given to you regularly, instead of waiting for a crisis. Our adoption counselors also educate you about resources that are available from other sources – resources that can continue after you deliver – so you can build a more secure future for yourself. And you’ll never need to feel uncomfortable about asking for help, because your adoption counselor will work with A Child’s Hope to communicate your needs to the adoptive parents.

A Child’s Hope is here to help!

Do you have a story you’d like to tell?  Email us at blog.ach@foryourlife.com.  Visit us at www.AChildsHope.com, or call our Birth Mother Hotline at 1-877-890-HOPE (4976) so one of our adoption counselors can answer your questions confidentially.

Please remember that this is a public site open to anyone; therefore, anything you post can be seen by anyone.

A Time for Gratitude!

Adoption, Family, Parenting - , , , , , , , , , , , , , -

Great things are happening here at A Child’s Hope.  Our new website is up and generating positive interest.  Our Facebook page is perking along and generating lots of likes.  Our blog is gaining followers.  And best news of all, one of our waiting families has been contacted by a potential birth mother through their website created by Hal Kaufman at My Adoption Advisor.  None of this would be possible without you all.  So:

Thank you Hal Kaufman and his team at My Adoption Advisor for creating our waiting parents’ websites, and for advising us on our new marketing plan!

Thank you Joanna Ivey at Our Chosen Child for creating our waiting parents’ profiles, you never disappoint!

Thank you Sarah Shehata and her team at SMC Pros for building our Facebook page and working with us on our advertising campaign!

Thank you Leigh Silverstein of TWTH Consulting for designing our new website and for working with us as we learn to maintain it ourselves!

Thank you to Jenny Halasz of JLH Marketing and her team of optimizers who generated the awesome list of keywords that is getting us found in searches!

Thank you to our adoption counselors for staying in touch with birth mothers and waiting families.  The adoption process is hard, but your presence and support makes it easier on everyone!

Thank you to our past placed families for letting us tell your stories on our blog and Facebook page.  Your stories provide such encouragement to our waiting families.  Our program works, and YOU ARE PROOF!

Thank you to our currently waiting families for your courage and bravery as we step out onto the World “WILD” Web to help you build the family you long for.

A Child’s Hope is a community with the goal of matching children with adoptive families.  Each one of you is a vital member of our community, and we thank you for your involvement!

Do you have a story you’d like to tell?  Email us at blog.ach@foryourlife.com.  Visit us at www.AChildsHope.com, or call our Birth Mother Hotline at 1-877-890-HOPE (4976) so one of our adoption counselors can answer your questions confidentially.

Please remember that this is a public site open to anyone; therefore, anything you post can be seen by anyone.

Filled With Love!

Adoption, Family, Parenting - , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , -

Tony and Mary Kay had suffered some significant losses before adoption brought Joel into their lives. Their daughter Maria was just 3.5 months old when a drunk driver slammed into Mary Kay’s car, injuring her and killing their daughter who was in a car seat in the back.   The accident left a big hole in their hearts, and they grieved immensely. To cope with her loss, Mary Kay started creating jeweled mobiles for gifts. Each mobile was a hand-crafted jeweled star connected to two other stars, symbolizing Maria as the bright start that she was.

Tony and Mary Kay didn’t want their daughter, Nora, to grow up without a sibling.  So in 2005, Tony and Mary Kay signed with A Child’s Hope to adopt another child. They were very open about race and gender and special needs, and they had a brief wait before a birth mother chose them to parent her child.  In 2005, a newborn boy was placed with them for adoption, and they named him Joel.

Today Joel is 6 years old, active and spirited, and he loves to dance.  Although the family will never forget the child they lost so suddenly, giving unconditional love to Joel has helped them heal and grow as a family.

Thanks to Tony, Mary Kay, Nora and Joel for allowing us to tell the story of their adoptive family.

Do you have a story you’d like to tell?  Email us at blog.ach@foryourlife.com.  Visit us at www.AChildsHope.com, or call our Birth Mother Hotline at 1-877-890-HOPE (4976) so one of our adoption counselors can answer your questions confidentially.

Please remember that this is a public site open to anyone; therefore, anything you post can be seen by anyone.

When Do I Tell My Child?

Adoption, Education, Family, Parenting - , , , , , , , , , , , , , -

One of the questions we hear at lot at A Child’s Hope is, “When do I tell my child he or she is adopted?”  It’s a question that deserves serious consideration.

 For the most part, gone are the days when adoptees reach adulthood before being told they are adopted. Nowadays adoptive parents are encouraged to talk to a child from the start about being adopted. There is a story well known in adoption circles about an adoptive family leaving the agency office with a beautiful baby on placement day. The adoptive parents turn to the adoption social worker and ask “When should we tell him he’s adopted?” The social worker laughs and says, “On the way home!” At A Child’s Hope, we believe in open adoption.  The birth parents know who the adoptive parents are; the adoptive parents know who the birth parents are.  And most importantly, the child knows who the birth parents are as well.  Most adoptive parents use some of the popular adoption children’s books to explain the adoption connection. Actress Jamie Lee Curtis penned one of the most famous books, “Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born.”   Birth mothers are encouraged to write letters to the child they are placing and to also consider doing a Lifebook, which is a scrapbook telling the child about his/her biological roots.
We’re here to help at A Child’s Hope.  Do you have a story you’d like to tell?  Email us at blog.ach@foryourlife.com.  Visit us at www.AChildsHope.com, or call our Birth Mother Hotline at 1-877-890-HOPE (4976) so one of our adoption counselors can answer your questions confidentially.

Please remember that this is a public site open to anyone; therefore, anything you post can be seen by anyone.

Room for One More!

Adoption, Family, Parenting - , , , , , , , , , , , -

Mike and Jonna had always planned to have a traditional Catholic family with at least three children, but Mother Nature wouldn’t cooperate. They turned to adoption to give their son Caleb and daughter Aubrey a sibling. Jonna is a stay-at-home mom who teachers Sunday school and volunteers in Scouts, and Mike is a Director with a major manufacturing firm who spends his of- work hours doing activities with his family.  Adoption is a loving way to grow a family, and Mike, Jonna, Caleb and Aubrey are patiently waiting and saving room for one more!

Thanks to Mike, Jonna and their kids for allowing us to tell the story of their adoptive family.

Do you have a story you’d like to tell?  Email us at blog.ach@foryourlife.com.  Visit us at www.AChildsHope.com, or call our Birth Mother Hotline at 1-877-890-HOPE (4976) so one of our adoption counselors can answer your questions confidentially.

Please remember that this is a public site open to anyone; therefore, anything you post can be seen by anyone.

Adoption in a Flash!

Adoption, Family, Parenting - , , , , , , , , , , , -

Angi and Hunter received the call that changed their lives in the fall of 2007.   A 19-year-old woman with an unplanned pregnancy called the birth mother hotline the day before she gave birth.  The adoption counselor planned to meet with the girl and her boyfriend the next day, but before they could meet, the girl went to the hospital to be induced due to high blood pressure.  The birth parents looked at profiles in the hospital and chose Angi and Hunter to parent the baby girl.  The birth parents wanted to wait until later to have a formal meeting, and they were not sure when they would be ready to do that.  But would Angi and Hunter be able to accept placement without meeting the birth parents?  The answer was YES!

After three weeks , the birth parents and adoptive parents finally met, and they immediately bonded. Initially all parties said that they didn’t want to stay in contact, but now they have a fully open adoption and have met  six times.  Addie is  four and loves to hear the story of how her parents had less than a week’s notice before taking her home!  Addie loves to hear the story about how she was in her birth mother’s tummy and that her birth parents chose Angie and Hunter to be her forever family.  When Addie sees her birth parents she always greets them with a big hug and kiss and immediately begins telling them about everything she has done since their last visit.  Angi and Hunter consider Addie’s birth parents as part of the family and are so thankful to have an open adoption.

Thanks to Angi, Hunter and Addie for allowing us to tell the story of their adoptive family.

Do you have a story you’d like to tell?  Email us at blog.ach@foryourlife.com.  Visit us at www.AChildsHope.com, or call our Birth Mother Hotline at 1-877-890-HOPE (4976) so one of our adoption counselors can answer your questions confidentially.

Please remember that this is a public site open to anyone; therefore, anything you post can be seen by anyone.

 

Open Adoption Is In!

Adoption, Family, Parenting - , , , , , , , , , , , -

I have written before about how much I prefer the idea open adoption over the old adoption model (Who Likes Unanswered Questions, October, 2011).  Apparently, I’m not the only one.  According to Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, “closed” adoptions have decreased to about 5%, and adoptive parents report positive experiences with more openness in the process.

All of our waiting couples have agreed to participate in an open or semi-open adoption.  Hats off to all our waiting families for being open to this exciting concept!

Thanks to the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute for publishing their findings.

Do you have a story you’d like to tell?  Email us at blog.ach@foryourlife.com.  Visit us at www.AChildsHope.com, or call our Birth Mother Hotline at 1-877-890-HOPE (4976) so one of our adoption counselors can answer your questions confidentially.

Please remember that this is a public site open to anyone; therefore, anything you post can be seen by anyone.

It’s Strawberry Picking Time!

Adoption, Family, Parenting - , , , , , , , , , , , -

Its Strawberry Picking Time! Neva and Marco (soon to be four and five and a half) had a blast this month at a local Strawberry Picking farm!

Sam and Kendra were thrilled when a 40-year-old woman with an unplanned pregnancy chose them to parent her newborn son, whom they named Marco. Sam and Kendra sent a dozen yellow roses to the hospital for the birth mother. And then 20 months later, they travelled to Texas to adopt another newborn, whom they named Neva. Although Neva and Marco do not have a biological connection, they are in every other sense of the word, true brother and sister.

Thanks to Sam, Kendra, Neva and Marco for allowing us to tell the story of their adoptive family.

Do you have a story you’d like to tell?  Email us at blog.ach@foryourlife.com.  Visit us at www.AChildsHope.com, or call our Birth Mother Hotline at 1-877-890-HOPE (4976) so one of our adoption counselors can answer your questions confidentially.

Please remember that this is a public site open to anyone; therefore, anything you post can be seen by anyone.

Birthmother Hotline: (877) 890-4673

Envia Un Texto: (919) 218-6270

Text: Pregnant to (919) 971-4396