The Beginning...Sort of

Well I started this blog back in September of 2009, the only thing I forgot to do was write!

I will take this time to tell you how it all started.

In March of 1997 my husband and I started dating. I can't say that's when we met because we'd met a couple of years earlier but it took him that long to figure out that I liked him! So, like I said we started dating in March. In June we decided to move in together. That was something that didn't please my very christian family. We promised my very protective and old fashioned Dad that we would get married before we started a family...and we did. We got married in October of 1997. Whirlwind comes to mind when I think back on our start.

We had the usual comments of it won't work, they won't last, they haven't spent enough time together. But after 13 years of marriage we are still here (much to the surprise of everyone else who are now divorced) and thriving.

Move forward two years and you see us finding out about our infertility issues. It is these issues that finally push us into the journey of adoption.

I had always known that I would adopt. It's something I decided when I was 12 years old. It was then that I met my very best friend, who I found out was adopted. It was she who showed me the world of adoption and the joy it brings to all parties involved. Sure there are heartbreaks, and heart aches, but the joy outweighs them all.

So how did we come to the decision? This was a question I asked my husband prior to us getting serious in our short dating period. I explained to him that I had various health concerns and that because of those concerns I might not be able to have biological children and I might not want to if it was proven I could pass along my issues. I asked him in the beginning how he felt about adoption? Living my life without children was not an option for me.

After an ectopic pregnancy and 8 miscarriages (some of which happened post adoption application) we moved forward with our plans to adopt.

We decided on pursuing adoption through the Ministry of Children and Family because we knew (after a lot of research) that there were way too many children in BC that needed good, loving homes. We also researched local domestic through private agencies, inter-country as well. But they were cost prohibitive and came with no guarantees that any infant would be completely healthy. So we opted for special needs adoption through MCFD.

With my extensive experience with the medical system and my ability to advocate for the services that I needed for myself, we felt confident that we could do the same for our children. My husband had to learn the system very quickly when I had the ectopic pregnancy as I wasn't able to speak for myself. He is now just as knowledgeable and experienced as I am, and a more fierce advocate you won't find.

In June of 2000 we signed up for adoption.