For the second spotlight on families that have made the life-changing decision to grow their families through adoption, I want to highlight the inspiration for this blog series. I was first introduced to Julia when a “photogra-friend” tagged me in a post in a photography FB group. Julia was looking for someone in the Louisville/Southern IN area to take some photos of her family once their adoption was final. She wanted to document the magic of family and celebrate their forever family. At their session, I fell in love with the whole family but their sassy red-head is truly something special! She is sweet and kind, loving and full of personality. She even had me playing hide-and-seek!
Of course when I learned that November was adoption awareness month and decided to create a blog series to showcase some loving families, I knew I wanted this family to be a part!
So without further ado, I present to you…
The Furlongs.
Tell us about you and your family before adopting.
Before adopting, we tried to have children with no success. We even tried in vitro fertilization twice. The first time we tried, it didn’t work. The second time it ended in a miscarriage. After a few years of knowing we couldn’t conceive, we decided to adopt. First, looking at private adoption and then deciding to foster to adopt through the state. We started the process of filling out the paperwork and taking the classes that were needed. Then, we were finally licensed to foster! From the time we tried the IVF to getting licensed took three years.
Tell readers about your adoption journey.
After being licensed, we poured over tons of children that were in need of a home. We knew going into fostering that we only wanted to adopt so deciding on a child we left it in God’s hands. After several months of being licensed, a profile of this little red head came across our email.
Once we looked at her picture we knew she was meant for us!
We made arrangements to have a respite for a weekend and after that weekend we definitely knew she was the one! So, less than a month later she came to our home to stay. She was 2 years and 9 months-our sassy little red head! When she came to our home we were told that she was adoptable and that there were only a few small hurdles we had to deal with. 919 days after she first came into our home, we were granted adoption.
What challenges have you faced during your journey of growing your family through adoption?
The challenges were many, too many to remember and too many to tell. The main challenges were dealing with the many changes of DCS, one having 6 different case workers in two years-having to start over each time we got a new one. The challenges that we had with our foster child was having to navigate through everything that this child learned being placed in 13 different homes since she had been taken out of the home at 16 months old and having two hour tantrums that happened up until around 9 months after she came to our home. Once being in our home for two years she has come to know safety, stability, consistency, and love-all things that should have never been denied her.
She is thriving in our home!
What rewards have you experiences through the adoption process?
The rewards are great! Knowing we have been blessed with a child to make our family complete is the greatest gift we could have prayed for. But the greatest gift is being able to give this Child every opportunity available, and to feel unending love from not only David and I but from our extend family and friends who have been on this journey with us from the start!
What advice would you give to people considering adoption?
The advice that I’d give to anyone considering adoption is to make sure you ask questions, do your research, get as much knowledge as you possibly can. Join the Facebook groups, talk to other folks that have adopted! Knowledge is key!
It may be a long road but it is well worth it in the end!
Be the first to comment