Adoption Diary: The Introduction

"Why adopt?"

The question that has been asked of us over and over.

We were young.

23 when we started the home study process, 25 when the boys came home.

We were fertile.

Tanner, our biological son, was 4 months old when we attended our first adoption information class. My pregnancy wasn't easy, but it wasn't reason enough to choose not to have more biological children.

We made cute babies.

OK seriously, as if THAT would be a reason people would chose to adopt. But people said it too us. Yes Tanner was SO cute. Yes we still chose to adopt. Seriously people.

But the decision to adopt, or at least try to adopt, had been made long before.

Long before we were married. Long before we got pregnant. Long before we had a son. Adoption was our first choice. A biological child came first, but adoption was never, ever a second choice.


Did I understand fully what being an adoptive parent meant? Of course not.



Did I understand fully what being a transracial parent meant? Of course not.



Did I understand fully what I would need to know, learn and develop in order to be a good parent to my future children? Of course not.



But I did know. Know with a soul searing, life altering knowledge, that I would adopt.



Our adoption story started long before. As a sixteen year old, I was found by my sister. A sister I didn't know existed.