I’m so excited about this new series, ‘I’m adopted’ where we plan to feature adult adoptees and hear about their experiences of adoption. Today we hear from Trish Taylor first hand about what adoption means to her. Thank you for sharing your story, Trish.
What is your definition of adoption?
Being accepted (embraced, loved, cherished, disciplined) into a family or environment different to your original place of birth/setting.Continue Reading
Thandi and I started chatting through this blog a few months ago – she was exploring adoption options in Cape Town and had lots of questions! Fast forward a few short months and Thandi has her baby girl home with her and is planning to repeat the whole process again soon – brave mama! Thank you for sharing your beautiful story with us, Thandi.
Tell us a bit about your family.
We’re a family of 5 at the moment, with another adoption planned in the next few months. Homeschool mom, hands-on dad, 9 yearold biological son, 9 year old biological daughter and one adorable 6 month old adopted girl.Continue Reading
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To celebrate the launch of their winter Mon Petit Chou Chou babywear range, they are giving away a magnificent unisex hamper valued at R550. It’s your lucky day Mamas, if you’ve got a baba who is 0-18 months, then here’s what one of you can walk away with for your little one:
Hello my boy. We’re busy making preparations to come and visit you on Friday for a few days and then you’re coming home with us to Cape Town. You took us by surprise little one. One minute we were a family of four and a phone call and a week later it had been decided that we are going to be your Mom & Dad. It’s been so incredibly exciting. I’m not the biggest fan of surprises but you are the best kind of surprise.
Your big brother is Ilan and he’s turning four in June and your big (little) sister is Kira and you will all become the best of friends, I can just tell. Ilan’s favourite book at the moment is called Choco and it’s about a small round cheeked little yellow bird with stripy legs who sets off to find a mother who looks just like him. Choco soon realises that it doesn’t matter if his mommy doesn’t look him him but that she can give him hugs, and make him laugh and play with him. Mama Bear takes Choco home and introduces him to her family – Ilan has decided that he is Choco, Kira is Ally the aligator and that you are piggy. (Sorry about that, you better come home soon so that you can defend yourself!)
Judah, we saw a photo of you for the first time last week and you have no idea how much time I’ve spent looking at your photo since then. We just can’t wait to meet you and kiss and cuddle you. Dad had just left for work on the day that the official referral from your social worker popped into my inbox and he turned his car right around and fought the traffic back home so that we could open this life changing email together. Now you have a face and this is real and we are even more excited. Adoption is the gift of you and we don’t know what we did to deserve you, Judah.
We finally came up with a short list of names (It’s hard for Dad and I to agree on names and so this was quite a process) and when we saw your photo we just knew that you were ‘Judah’. Judah Hlehlo. ‘Praise’ for ‘God’s plan’. We praise God for you my boy. I know that it might be hard for you one day to understand how you ended up in our family but we pray that you know without a shadow of a doubt that you were planned and that God stitched this family together in His plan.
This is an extract from a beautiful article that has helped shape my thinking about adoption which might help you understand that our family is not Plan B, Judah. God only has a Plan A. It written by a Dad with five kids – three by adoption, two by birth:
“My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” (Psalm 139, NIV)
These are powerful words to anyone who reads them, especially to a child by adoption. It’s amazing to think that God has already ordained each detail of a child’s life before that child is born, whether that child be a child by adoption or a child by birth.
I understood this even more fully one day when I was thinking about what it was like to be present when my daughter was born. I remembered being up late at night in the dim hospital room and how incredible it was to cut her umbilical cord. It was truly a breathtaking experience to see this innocent little girl come into the world. For me, being there to actually cut the cord enabled me to connect with God’s will in placing this child into our hands.
I was not there to cut the umbilical cords for my children by adoption. I consider this a loss for all of us. But God revealed something even more powerful to me through Psalm 139-that our position as the parents to children by adoption had been sealed by God before time began.
God Himself actually cut the cord between our children by adoption and their biological parents, freeing them to be placed into our hands. When we became their mother and father, it was not through our efforts or by chance, but by God’s mighty hand in our lives and the lives of others. Every detail of our life now is evidence of God working to redeem the broken things of this world to fulfill His plans and not ours.
What a beautiful answer to the question, “Why was I not born in your tummy, Mama?” to be able to tell your children, “God did not forsake you. He never leaves you; God has a plan for your life and all of our lives and it was His plan to place you with us.” (You can read the full article here.)
Judah, we look forward to welcoming you home and thank God for choosing us to be your parents. We love you before we’ve met you.
I had my first, ‘there’s a monster in my room’ experience with Ilan last night. I woke up at 01h00 to hear a terrified cry coming from the kids’ room. I felt for Ilan in the dark and asked him what was wrong – it’s usually a ‘where’s my dummy’ or ‘I’m itchy’ kind of problem but this time he said, ‘I’m scared. I’m scared of the monster. Mommy, lie with me.’ What a mommy privilege it is to be able to climb into a teeny toddler bed and rescue your little one from a scary monster. I love being his safe place and having his little arms strangle me as he falls asleep mid-cuddle.
I’m surprised it took so long for the monster night terror to come along because every morning Ilan says he dreamt about monsters and dragons and dinosaurs and fire, but presumably these were not ‘scaredy’ dreams. We’ve had a bad dream incident with a ‘naughty cow’ before, but monster dreams are the next level.
Here’s hoping my mommy hug powers can last forever.
