The foster care adoption process is not always simple. So to shed some light on it Foster Love - Together We Rise shares real stories from parents that have recently gone through the process. This is helpful as you get a first hand account of all of the joys and challenges of adoption.

This week Lindsay, an adoptive mother and foster/adoption advocate, shares her story with us. Lindsey authored a book to help spread awareness about the foster care system. Welcoming children into her home and heart resonated deeply with her and hopefully will with you!

Life’s Inspirations

Lindsay chose to pursue fostering for a special and heartwarming reason. She expresses, “I knew at some point in my life I wanted to adopt because I was adopted, and my brother was adopted from foster care. It was something that I felt I wanted to pay forward and give other kiddos a hand up in life.”

With that goal in mind and heart, Lindsay goes on to say, “My wife and I started our foster care journey in 2012. We began looking at different foster agencies and talking to them to see who we felt comfortable with. After finding an agency we really liked we started MAPP training and just like that ten weeks flew by, and we were ready for fostering kiddos. We were fostering kids with the idea to adopt if the opportunity presented itself!”

Lindsay and her wife took in a sibling group of four consisting of two girls and two boys. “Life definitely throws curve balls because we were only supposed to have them for one month before they were to get reunited with their bio parents.” Lindsay goes on to say, “Three years later, they were still in foster care with us.” Eventually, after their kids’ biological parent’s parental rights were terminated, on July 25, 2018, Lindsay and her wife adopted her two girls and two boys into her forever family.

Insight into the Foster Care Adoption Process

Lindsay explained her foster and adoption process further. “Our adoption process, once we knew they were going to be adoptable was actually an easy process for us. We sat down the kids outside on a nice day so they didn’t feel trapped and asked them if they would want to be a part of our forever family. We also offered if they take our last name that their bio parents last name will be their middle name, so they don’t lose that part of them. Being adopted, I wish I was allowed to keep apart of my past! So we were able to take my history and use it to make it a better one for our guys! The kids loved this idea.” Reminiscing on the best experience in this process, Lindsay says, “ My best experience through this whole process is my kids. It’s literally that simple.”

Lindsay reveals, “After three years of consistency and just being transparent with them, we had finally broken through their walls.” With time on her hands after choosing to quit her job to care for her kids Lindsay states, “That is when I began my journey creating my children’s book, Foster. It is a book about a trash bag named Foster that goes on a journey through foster care and then into adoption when he finally gets thrown away. The kiddos we fostered came to us with trash bags. It has become a passion of mine to bring awareness!”

Advice on the Foster Care Adoption Process

For those who are considering fostering, adoption, or both Lindsay would like you to know that the process is not always easy and that “adoption can be intimidating or overwhelming” but, “just ask yourself this one question. Can I commit to loving someone else unconditionally forever and always? Family, friends, co-workers, the person in the grocery store, everyone you talk to is going to have their opinions on what you should do or when you should adopt, but you will know when you are ready! When the time is right, you will know. Everything happens in life for a reason! It is your journey to follow and good luck in it.” 

Thank you, Lindsey, for sharing your story with us. If you are in the process of fostering to adopt, we’d like to help you photograph your adoption day. Check out our Framing Forever program for more information. https://www.togetherwerise.org/framing-forever/