Thank you for this opportunity to share our adoption story. It begins like many others. After struggling with infertility, we decided adoption was our best choice. We had been couple since our senior year of high school and were ready to start our family life. We found Adoption STAR, completed the classes and before long Ellie came home. On two occasions we thought we had been chosen, but at the last minute, things didn’t work out. Frustrated, we stayed hopeful. Thankfully, we received the call we had been waiting for one beautiful March day. We picked up Ellie at the agency. The first year with Ellie was amazing. She went from a tiny 5-pound baby to a gorgeous, albeit pudgy, 1 year old. Soon enough Casey came into our lives. We had thrown our hat into the ring again just before we took Ellie on her first of many trips to Cancun. By the time we arrived home, Casey’s birth mother had chosen us. She was born three months later. Casey has been a gift beyond words. Our family was now complete.

Words cannot express how grateful we are to both of our children’s birth families. We cherish the connection we maintain with both of them. Our connection to Adoption STAR is equally important to us. Adoption STAR’s dedication to education and support for both adoptive and birth parents is unmatched.

While we were waiting for our baby to be born to her birth family, I found out I was pregnant(again)! Knowing that we would be unable to raise two infants…. and also knowing that I would likely miscarry, we felt the fair thing to do would be to “decline” our profiling. Little did we know, we had already been chosen! As sadly expected, I did miscarry. Concurrently, our as yet unknown birth mother pretty much disappeared. We rejoined the active pool and a couple of weeks later, our soon to be birth family resurfaced! They wanted us to be their daughter’s forever family! What is meant to be is meant to be! Many Blessings!

Like most other couples, we struggled with infertility. After years of treatments and all the emotional ups and downs, we decided that adoption with right for us. In April, we attended an orientation at Adoption STAR and immediately signed up for the next Home Study classes.
That summer, Kim lost her job due to restructuring (after 8 years with a state agency). Knowing that Civil Service would eventually find her a new position; she took advantage of her “free time” and worked hard at completing our Home Study and adoption profiles. Our Home Study was completed in September.

We eagerly waited “to be profiled”, honestly, not being optimistic.

The morning of November 7, Kim received a phone call that changed our lives forever. “There was a baby boy born yesterday in Indianapolis, Indiana. He is supposed to be discharged tomorrow. Are you interested in being profiled?” Kim excitedly answered, “Yes!” and immediately tried getting in touch with Dennis, only to receive his voice mail; we both were at our jobs that day. Kim tried to continue working, but was so excited, it was difficult. Then about three hours later, while still at work, Kim received the ultimate news… we were selected by the birth mom! Now, Kim really needed to get in touch with Dennis as we just became parents! Finally, Dennis answered his phone. We were both crying and in shock. We spent our evening preparing for our trip to Indiana. We were on our way to Babies R Us to purchase “the essentials”, as we were not prepared (knowing if we were ever selected, we would buy things then), all the while making phone calls to notify family and friends. One of our best friends told us to turn around and come right to their house as they had everything we needed. What a blessing! They gave us the infant car seat/carrier, a pack ‘n play, bottles, bibs, newborn clothes, etc. We only needed to buy diapers and wipes. The following morning, November 8, we were on our way to Indianapolis to meet our son. The 9-hour ride went so smoothly. We used that time to continue contacting family and friends. Meeting Connor that night was the best experience of our lives. He was born with a full head of black hair – no one told us that ahead of time. The nurses at the hospital were amazing! When Connor was discharged the following day, the nurses packed a diaper bag for us with several days-worth of formula and other essentials. We remained in Indiana for almost one week, awaiting state clearance. It was priceless family time together – just the three of us!
Connor is now a happy, healthy two-and-a-half year old toddler that has filled our lives with more joy than he ever will imagine.

We are extremely blessed that God chose this plan for us and that we were strong enough to believe Him.

Thank you to Connor’s birth mom for being so strong, selfless and courageous. We have an open adoption and will be able to share this entire journey with Connor.

Thank you, Adoption STAR, for helping us understand adoption and for living it. May you continue to create forever families for many years to come!

My husband Bill and I had been waiting to adopt for a few months. Only recently had our local agency sent our profile to Adoption STAR. But I had gotten to the point where I dreaded hearing the phone ring….every time I did I thought – will this be THE call? Most times it wasn’t. But then one day, just as I was getting ready to leave my desk at work and get ready for a training class, the phone rang. I remember debating with myself, “Do I answer it, because it’s going to be nothing or do I just let it go to voice mail?” Well, I answered it and I heard the words I will never forget, “It’s Michele from Adoption STAR – you’ve been selected!”. The only other words that sounded better came from Michele only two weeks later “Congratulations, your son has been born!” Matthew was born October 3, 2002, and made all those dreaded phone calls a very distant memory.

Our journey did not end there. Nine months later, I was training a class, and my cell phone rang. I immediately recognized the phone number. I had this funny feeling. I turned to my co-worker and said “Wow, I bet this is Adoption STAR telling me our birth mother is expecting again.” To my surprise and excitement, I was right!!! Three months later, Matthew was the proud big brother to Madison Lee, born November 21, 2003. As I tell Matthew and Madison when I tell them their adoption story – that is the day our forever family became complete.

Happy Birthday Adoption STAR. Thank you for all you have done for our forever family, for our children’s birth mother, and what you continue to do for other families.

Our beautiful identical twin daughters came to us through Adoption STAR’s capable hands. The agency made our adoption experience wonderful, even through some bumps and unexpected turns in the road. We feel blessed and grateful to Adoption STAR and especially to Michele.