MarkLaurie

Hi Susan! Welcome to Abrazo's forumland. My husband and I cannot speak more highly of Abrazo. We believe they are the best around. We took placement of our precious baby girl in October of this year - three months from attending Abrazo's orientation. Having your homestudy complete prior to their orientation is definitely a plus but not required. The only other thing is to send in the pre-application found on their websight and then they will send you the application. You will then attend one of their orientation weekends which are well worth the time, trip, and money. Then the fun begins! There are some topics in the "Looking to Adopt" section that may be helpful.

We moved to the decision to adopt rather quickly. Part of the reason was the we had always talked of adopting even before we knew we were going to have difficulty concieving. Another part is that we were at peace with not having a "biological" child - we just wanted to share our love and lives with a child. On a more logical note, when we were looking at the cost of IVF and other fertility treatments, we quickly noted that while they would likely cost as much if not more than adoption, there were even less guarantees. Then what would we do? We would have nothing left to pursue adoption with.

The Legacy of an Adoption Once there were two expectant mothers. One carried and cared for you beneath her beating heart. She became your Birthmother. The other carried the hope of you within her, She became your Mom. As the days passed, and you grew bigger and stronger, Your Birthmother knew that she could not give you all she needed after your birth. Meanwhile, your Mom was ready and waiting for you. One day your Birthmom and your Mom found each other. They looked into each other's eyes and saw a friend. Your Birthmom saw the life your Mom could give you. Your Mom saw how much your Birthmom loved and cared for you. They decided that what you needed was both kinds of love in your life. So now you have two families, One by birth, the other by adoption. And now you have a home where you can get: your questions answered, your boo boos bandaged, your heartaches soothed, and much-needed hugs. And a place where you can find: answers to your questions, your image in the mirror, a part of yourself, and much-needed hugs. Two different kinds of families. Two different kinds of love Both a part of you. Author Unknown

Wow, Wow, Wow, Toni and Joe!!!!The best news I've heard all day. You guys have been such a testament to the parent-in-waiting about patience, endurance, commitment, and openess. We are on pins and needles to see pictures. Enjoy your first sleepless night as parents.

Call me crazy, but we are only three weeks into having our precious girl at home, and I find myself making plans and decisions that will impact our ability to bring home our next little baby. I know it is early, but I can't imagine not doing this again despite all of adoption's ups and downs. It's never too early to think ahead is my philosophy. As far as "knowing" when your family is complete, I think it comes down to using the same concepts one uses to make other major life decisions: -does it line up with God's word and will -do you have the resources....I think this is where most get hung up - it's a little more of a gray area because I definitely think God calls us to do things when "we" don't know necessarily see the means how, but he has given us a brain for a reason to know when he would rather bless us in another area. I don't know if this makes any sense, my thoughts aren't flowing that well tonight - long day.

Holy, Cow! I've just been posting away up stairs and when this great news is being posted down stairs. We are so excited for you John and Nina!!! We will be praying for a speedy clearance so you can take your precious bundle home.

Yeah Tiffany and Craig!!!!!!!!! I couldn't be happier for you guys!

Congratulations, Angie! I can't wait to hear more.

Hi Alyssa, I am so glad you have made an adoption plan that will allow your child to know you and your family as he or she grows up. As the child grows and starts to wonder who he or she looks like or why he or she was adopted, he or she won't have far to look. You will be available to help him or her deal with these questions. The adoptive parents you choose will communicate how much you love him or her, but the child won't have to just take the adoptive parent's word for it - He or she can hear it SEE it from you directly. There could be a variety of reasons your mom is oppossed to open adoption - maybe she is struggling with the what she sees as a "loss" of her grandchild in general or maybe she is trying to protect you and herself from more emotional pain. Maybe she believes that being in contact with the baby after adoption will only continually reopen wounds and not allow you or her to continue with life. Maybe if she knew that you REALLY understood that, yes, this is going to be painful, but you know it is in the child's and your best interest. I also think that allowing her to speak with the Abrazo staff and her meeting the adoptive parents could help her also. I hope you will keep in contact with your forum friends and keep us updated.

Welcome to the start of a great journey! You will be so impressed with Abrazo. For your profile, just start finding some good pictures of you, your husband, family, and home. You can also start thinking about what you would like to say to potential birthparents. Abrazo will help at orientation. As far as financing, we did not have ours secured until after orientation. However, if you are going to do a loan, you may start talking to your mortgage company about home equity loans or your banker. We went to our banker and told him what we were doing and I think they got excited about helping us out. Also talk to family. But mostly, remember God will provide. I am glad we got our homestudy started before orientation. It takes a little time and Abrazo moves SO fast that it saves you from having to wait if they are ready to get you matched with a birthparent. I look forward to hearing about your journey. Your forum friends are here.

Yeah, Amanda and Chris! We are so excited for you guys! We need pictures and details!

We hadn't spent much time really nailing down how to finance the adoption so I wished we had spent more time thinking about that before orientation. I also think having some example profiles before orientation so that we would have known more about what to expect in regards to starting to prepare our own. Getting started on the profile before orientation would have cut down on our stress level the week after. Laurie Summer Strollers