Start your Care Provider journey: See How To. Call 519-455-9000 ext. 2784. Email: [email protected]
I met my husband when I was 19 years old, and on our first date we discussed children. I know, not typically something people that age talk about, but somehow we landed on the topic. I told him that I wanted two biological kids and to adopt a third. To my surprise he was open to the idea of adoption and I thought to myself, “This one is a keeper”.
After being married for a few years, we decided to start trying for a family. During the process, I was diagnosed with severe Endometriosis and was told that I would never be able to conceive naturally. After years of struggling with infertility and multiple rounds of IVF, we decided to close the door on having a biological child. Through all of the pain, we realized there was a reason we weren’t meant to conceive.
We are meant to open our home and hearts to someone else’s child that may be in need.We contacted Children’s Aid and became dually approved care providers to foster and adopt. No sooner were we approved, than we got a call for a placement of a newborn baby girl. We didn’t know much about her situation at the time, but my husband and I decided that we had a nursery ready, and this little girl needed help. The next day we welcomed her into our home, and literally become parents overnight.
The next few months sent us on an emotional roller coaster, one that we couldn’t have anticipated. We loved her so much, yet at the same time had such empathy for her parents. They were our age, and just made some really poor decisions in their life that led them down a wrong path. We knew they loved her, and over time we built a relationship with them. As attached as we were to this beautiful baby girl, we knew in our hearts she should be reunited with her parents. Just over four months later we said goodbye. It was one of the hardest things we have ever done. We will never forget the sadness and the heartache, but will also never forget the lesson that we learned.
Late that evening we received a text from the mother saying she never thought the day her daughter came home would be one of the saddest days of her life. She was over-joyed to be reunited, but felt awful that it caused us pain. She continued on saying that she never thought she would learn so much about love and compassion from people that she initially thought were
the enemy. We wanted us to be part of her daughter’s life moving forward. With tears in both our eyes, we realized that this experience was bigger than us. We initially started out wanting to help out a child, but in turn ended up helping an entire family. This helped us to heal, and I can happily say that we still keep in contact with them today.
We took time off to heal and evaluate if we wanted to do it again. We knew the pain of what we were feeling, but still felt confident that this was the path we were supposed to be on. Well, I tell you, life is so beautifully unpredictable. Shortly after this New Years day, we received a call for a baby boy who was only a couple hours old.
We said yes and immediately rushed to the hospital. It was love at first sight, and I can honestly say that we couldn’t love this child more if he was biologically ours. We have obtained Crown Wardship and are now on the path to adopt him. Our hearts are overjoyed and are filled with love and gratefulness. Whether providing a long term loving home or a short term safe place for a child, we need to remind ourselves that as care providers our efforts matter. It can be difficult at times, however so wonderfully rewarding.