KatieTenn

We live on the Eastern Shore, but we are actually in Texas right now. I haven't been able to respond much because my grandmother passed away a couple of days ago, and thankfully I was able to be here with her and with my family. I had a strong connection with her, so it is very difficult, but we are trying to be grateful for the time we have had and just keep moving forward. Now, this is also a good distraction from time to time, and of course we are still hoping to continue with our adoption plans. I am sad that our child won't have been able to meet my grandmother... she was pretty cool. A local gathering would be great!

Thank you! We are from Maryland.... though I am half-Texan. ;-) Matt is half-Canadian, so that is an interesting mix. haha. Katie

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome. We have already had a failed match independently, so we are a little fragile, but still excited to move forward. Of course we were ultimately supportive of her decision, but it was still hard. It feels right to be applying to a Texas agency though, and we hope that it works out. We appreciate all of the support. Katie

We just mailed in our application today! We sent in our Inquiry almost a year ago and are finally getting ourselves together! We don't have any children yet, and while we don't live in TX, I have lots of family there so we visit fairly often. Texas has been an important part of my childhood, so it has a special place in my heart. Hopefully our application is approved and we can attend the next Orientation. The post office said it should arrive Thursday. Thanks! Katie and Matt

Thanks everyone for your input. We mailed our application today!! We are still nervous about making the switch, but also feel good about it. I have a lot of family in Texas, and it has a special place in my heart, so we would love to adopt from there for that reason as well. It is really nice to hear other stories and experiences. Hopefully we will get to attend the Orientation in July!

Hello everyone! We are in the process of completing Abrazo's application, and hoping to attend the July Orientation if we can get everything in on time. The forum about why people chose Abrazo hasn't been updated in a while, so I thought I would give people the opportunity to share their stories again. Why did you choose Abrazo, and how long was your wait? Have there been many failed matches in your experiences? We completed our Homestudy in 2/2012 and tried to adopt independently at first. We matched quickly, but it fell through last summer. Then we signed up with an agency in NM that we like, but they do not have many expectant moms that they are working with now. We like Abrazo and what they stand for, but it is a big decision to sign up for another agency after we have been waiting a while already, and then also have to pay more fees. Adoption-related decisions are tough!! I hope no one minds us asking these questions. We are leaning towards Abrazo, but would just love to hear more feedback from the experiences of others. I love the sense of community that is built here! Thanks!