The Decision to Adopt

Ever since Todd and I got married we have believed that adoption would be part of God's plan for our family. We weren't sure when or under what circumstances, so we've thought and prayed about it a lot over these 6 years. After Ben was born last January we started feeling like maybe the right time was getting closer. We did some research, but then we put things on hold for a few months because it seemed a little overwhelming... Ben was not even a year old, wasn't sleeping well and wasn't very happy. We then found out he was allergic to dairy and things started to get much better, so we resumed the research process. At that point, we believe God made it very clear to both of us that it was the right time for our family to adopt. We both felt complete peace and excitement about the possibility of bringing another child into our family. At first, we really wanted to adopt from China and felt like it made the most sense for us, but both prospective parents have to be 30, so we looked at other options. We next looked into Colombia and Guatemala,and for a number of reasons felt that Guatemala made the most sense for our family. I loved the idea of adopting from a Latin American country because I have always loved the language and culture, and have felt called to minister to hispanic people. Once we learned more about adoption from Guatemala we became convinced that this was the right place for us. We looked into several different agencies along the way, but finally decided on The Gladney Center for Adoption in Ft. Worth because they were placing babies from Guatemala, and also because they are wonderful! Everyone we have talked to and worked with has been competent, helpful and caring. We really believe God led us to them.