November ~ National Adoption Awareness Month

I've written quite a bit about adoption on my blog. In honor of November being National Adoption Awareness month, I asked my husband Dan to share some of his thoughts. I'll be writing myself about adoption later in the month.

I've always loved children and children have always loved me. I assumed when I got married I would have a dozen of them. As life progressed, I was never blessed with biological offspring. I was able to be a father to Nick (Gail's biological son) and being a parent is the greatest joy you can ever have. When Gail suggested we take a look at adoption I was cautious and curious. It is a leap of faith to give your heart away and the risk of pain is real. You don't know what your child will be like, if they are truly healthy or if they will even like you but the same could be said of biological children. I thought of the handful of people that I knew who were adopted and the few people who I knew that had tried to adopt. The mixture of experiences was no different than a sampling of any collection of lives. With raising Nick and having to share him with his biological father, I preferred a different approach for our next child. The foreign adoption route felt like the best one. First came Grace and then William. If I could have picked them out in a store or made them myself, I couldn't have gotten better children than the ones I have. All three of them are unique, fun, special and sweet. My life has been enriched forever. I never dreamed that a road I never knew could take me to such a joyous place.

Adoption is often considered as a final option after several attempts have been made to have biological children. Sometimes it's the only choice that can be made after the child bearing years have passed. Occasionally, it's the preferred choice in place of having biological children. Whatever the reason, it is a beautiful process. To give a child a family when they have none is a true blessing for all involved. Yes, there are times that are challenging but that is true for any child in any family. Children should be loved and be able to love others. They need a solid foundation of trust, acceptance and unconditional love.

There are times that I feel sorry for my children's biological parents because I'm getting all the delight that they could have had. I thank these people for giving my children life and I promise them that I will give their children a chance for a great life. At times I feel sorry for my children because they will have questions about who they are and how they came to live with us that I will never be able to answer. All I can do is take them in my arms and love them...unconditionally.