My friend Mike has an interesting post over on the Adoption.com forums. He provides a little reflection on how and why he got started in foster care. I think it’s a wonderful post, and probably reflects the feelings of many of us. Post your story on the forum. Be warned, Mike has a, ummmm, interesting sense of humor.



My husband and I have always wanted children. Not having them was never an option for us. We had been through several rounds of infertility treatments, with no success. Daily shots, every other day trips to the specialist, taking temperatures, all the usual stuff that couples go through.

One month, all conditions looked perfect, and yet, the results were heartbreaking. Further testing revealed that my right tube is blocked, and I would require surgery, with no guarantees of success. The surgery was not covered by insurance, and would destroy our savings. We decided that the need for a biological child was not great enough to continue along this path.

We began to look into adoption. Infant adoption and international adoption were out of our price range, and had such a long wait. We looked into “special needs” or adoption from foster care. We saw the kids that were listed, and knew it was the right thing for us.

Sammy came to us very quickly. He moved in less than a month after we met him. His case was fast tracked. We stumbled along a bumpy road, and were getting ready to make a decision about whether or not we were going to add more children to our home. The next day, the worker who placed Sammy with us called and told us about a little boy who needed a home. It took a few months, but K joined us. He had been with us 6 weeks, and was making progress, when the social workers came out for a regular visit. We knew that his birth mom was pregnant, and that the baby would be removed at birth. Of course, workers want to keep siblings together whenever possible, so they asked if we were interested in taking the baby when she was born. 6 weeks later, a baby girl entered our home. Our family was complete.

We were knee dip in therapy, school, and just plain old being a family. Mackenzie was born blind in one eye, and the eye itself was deformed, so she required weekly therapy, and visits to specialists. K was in pre-school, and Sammy was in elementary school, along with sports. We struggled along, not having had the alphabet soup diagnosis yet, and not sure what we were doing wrong as parents.

Why am I telling you all this? Because it helps to explain the passion I have for kids and helping families. It is a part of who I am.

To be continued......