Many of you have asked that I share a little bit about how I became a mom! We all know that I adopted—that’s a not secret, but the how, the what, the when, the where—well those are what you are really asking about, right? Adoption wasn’t something that I just decided to do. I always knew that adoption would be part of my plan; however, when you are 20, you assume you will be married right out of college, pump out a few kids, and then you and your happy hubby will adopt! Well, when you are 34 and still have never been married, ya gotta sit back and say, “What the heck am I waiting for? I want to be a mom, but I know that I really just want to adopt! I have a great life, career, family, friends…I own my home. Life is good! Just do it!” So that’s what I did.
Short version: September 2008, I chose a placement agency and home study agency. December 2009, I legally became K’s Mama! February 2010, I held my son in my arms for the first time!
More detailed version: At the time, I was in a committed, long term relationship and really just asked a simple question of him, “what are we doing?” Neither of us could really answer that and I told him that I really wanted to start pursuing an adoption. A few months later, I sat him down, said, “Here’s all the information I have gathered!!!” Suffice it to say, we broke up within a few months of that conversation and I immediately moved forward with my adoption. I was 35 years old (and some change) and couldn’t have been happier to start this new journey.
I won’t bore you with the details (like the difference between a placement agency and a home study agency or how much paperwork immigration, FBI, Homeland security and local law enforcement require to make sure you ain’t no criminal!). It’s tough to fathom the medical clearances, paperwork and fingerprints because, at the time, I was so caught up in nostalgia, it didn’t matter. Once all my paperwork was submitted, the wait began! Please know that, at that time, I was the person who had to wait the longest out of anyone in my agencies history! Seriously, no one, in the history of my agency, had ever waited as long as I did, but it was all worth it!
Once the waiting subsided and I was shown a picture of my future son, things happened really fast. October 17, 2009, I received the email that I had been waiting for. I saw my son’s face for the first time. I learned his name and it hit me, “I am gonna be this kids Mom!” December 24, 2009, I passed court and the government of Ethiopia said that I could be his Mama! On February 18, 2010, I got on a plane to go get my son. On February 19, 2010, I held my son in my arms for the first time ever!!! And the rest is history!
I am so passionate about the orphan crisis—and not just the international one. Wake up people, there is one in this country too. I am passionate that kids die everyday simply because they don’t have access to clean drinking water! I am so passionate about kids and education. I am passionate abut being a great Mom to K!!! My journey to being K’s mom wasn’t easy. The journey to motherhood was, at times, lonely. But then again, at other times it was pure bliss! What I do know is that I have always been someone who has “bucked” the system. I have always been someone who doesn’t care if she fits in. Heck, I am a Christian who has a pierced nose, multiple tattoos, and has had a shaved head (in the past). I like bucking traditional “things”! The journey to him wasn’t traditional, but, hey, sometimes you gotta say, “Screw tradition!!!”
No comments:
Post a Comment