Adoption's Personal Story

During the seven months I spent working at Children of the Promise, I witnessed 18 children being united with their forever families through international adoption. While COTP focuses on creating and supporting situations where children can stay with their biological parents, sometimes that just isn't an option. I've learned a lot about adoption as a result, including the process, paperwork, country requirements, physical and emotional attachment issues...and yet what I have learned and experienced is just the tip of the iceberg that is adoption.

Everyone who has adopted has their story - why they felt led to adopt, how they were matched with the child intended for them, the hurdles and hoops they endured with paperwork and politics, and what God taught them during the joyous moments and difficult times of waiting and unknowing. I loved being able to sit down with some of the adoptive parents to hear their stories, learn about their journey through the process, and see the sovereignty of God at work in their new family.

What I could never learn from a book, adoption website or personal story, however, is the insight I gained from experiencing and witnessing international adoptions "from the other end." These moments: Picking up a child from the hospital, abandoned, with nothing more than their own name; helping to decide how old a child might be based on physical assessment and making up a birthday for them; being asked by a mother to keep her child; watching parents sign paperwork to officially put their child up for adoption and then holding the child as they leave; seeing biological parents return to visit their child; witnessing certain behaviors that are directly related to issues of poor or lack of appropriate bonding/attachment; putting up walls to resist forming my own emotional attachments; escorting a child to the U.S. Embassy in Port au Prince for their visa appointment; celebrating as a child meets their forever family for the first time; watching adoptive parents meet their child's biological parents; sitting with a child as they watch their friend leave with their new mom and dad and telling them that theirs will be here soon; praying over each kiddo that is not matched with a family yet that they might have a family soon, too.

 

Children of the Promise has given explicit permission for the posting of photos on this site.  Photos taken of children in the care of Children of the Promise are not to be posted publicly without explicit permission given by Children of the Promise.

The following link (bottom of page) is to a video documentary about Haiti and one family's experience with adoption. It features Children of the Promise and was filmed during the time I was there. I hope for this to serve a few purposes for those who take the time to watch it (about 30 minutes long).  It will provide a glimpse into the history and reality of Haiti, take you along for a portion of the emotional and physical journey that the family experienced, and allow you to see and hear some of the sights, sounds and people that I grew to love during the seven months I spent in Haiti.

Click link to watch video:  http://video.pioneer.org/video/2365244418/