Foster to Adopt: Minisode 1

Foster Love - Together We Rise gets a lot of questions from our readers and community, a majority about the foster to adopt the process. Unfortunately, our knowledge of specific aspects of the foster care adoption process is limited. We are not an adoption agency.

However, with the help of interviews from our foster/adoptive parent supporters, we can inform others through their stories.

Various questions can arise when considering becoming a foster parent.
“Is fostering to adopt the right path for my family?”
“What if this falls through?”
“Can birth mother reclaim adopted child?”

When hearts are moved to pursue adoption, there are pros and cons to consider when making a final decision.

In today’s minisode, we focus on words of advice and encouragement from three foster to adoptive parents.

Meet Kimberli

A few years ago, Kimberli shared her family’s first beautiful foster to adopt story with us. With more love to give, Kimberli and her family welcomed another child into their home. They fostered Jett for fourteen months before their adoption finalized. Last January, Jett arrived at Kimberli’s home to “a family that needed him as much as he needed them.” After a parental surrender after fourteen months, Kimberli welcomed Jett into her forever family.

When asked what words of encouragement she had for future foster parents, Kimberli stated.“There is such a need in our county and country. I can’t imagine where we would be had that baby not been dropped off a year ago. Foster care is so worth this amazing feeling!”

Meet Amber

Amber is a nurse and an adoption advocate. Along with her husband, they began fostering children in 2017. Two days after becoming officially licensed, they accepted their first placements. After picking them up from the crisis shelter, their journey began.

When asked how this chapter of fostering made a positive impact in her life,  Amber stated, “This has been all positive. We look at these little boys; they are more than worth it! It is also allowing my husband and me to have children. Foster care with the goal to eventually adopt became our path over domestic adoption.”

For future foster parents, Amber and her husband offer this advice. “We parent together and are honest with each other when it gets hard, and it will. There have been times we’ve both thought, ‘I can’t do this,’ but knew that it was a fleeting thought. When you look at the smiles or the little hand holding yours, it is worth it. Also, I encourage anyone looking to find a good support network and stick with them. You’ll need it. Be patient. It is hard and frustrating but never lose sight of what you’re doing it for.”

Meet Karla

Karla, a mother, and foster/adoption advocate, as well as her husband, chose to foster love by way of opening their hearts and home to children in foster care. When asked how her journey began, Karla reminisced, “We have three children through adoption. Our first son came to us right after his birth through domestic infant adoption.  Our second son came home at the age of two as a concurrent placement. Our daughter arrived 367 days later at the age of 2. My two youngest are only 8 months apart in age and are the best of friends.”

Reflecting on her experiences, Karla expresses “This chapter has made us all stronger, more resilient, and kinder. We not only grew as parents by way of these experiences but as a family.  It has made me understand and find empathy for the biological parents of my children.”

For those who are considering fostering/adoption, Karla shares, “My advice for future foster parents would be to put aside your fear. Dive in, don’t hold back. You and this child deserve the never-ending, no holding back kind of love. It will be gut-wrenchingly difficult, but it will be worth every moment”.

Thank you to Kimberli, Amber, and Karla for sharing your insightful and inspiring stories with us. If you are in the process of foster 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/