Shortly after our son was born, we were given some bad advice. Upon that advice, we acted, and thus we couldn't have any more biological children. For us, it was okay, we had known all along that we wanted to adopt.
When Andy was two, we began the adoption process. We originally became foster parent trained, we desired to adopt from American foster care. Through the next two years we learned some things, one that social workers weren't really interested in parents without a decent amount of parenting experience....I have more comments on that.
So we started a private adoption journey. Our first home study was completed for Liberia. As it happened, Liberia shut down adoption shortly after. So, we were left with the choice of where to adopt from as an alternative. Our lives were definitely being led by God, because some how I became aware of Reece's Rainbow. It was a newer foundation at the time, so I'm surprised I found it. That is where we found Anna and Tanner. They were both 5 at the time, in the same orphanage, and both have Down syndrome.
We had our home study changed, and believe it or not, six months later, we were home with them. It has not been all roses. We have struggled, they have struggled, it has been five years of struggle, tears, and growth. I wouldn't change it for the world, and oddly enough, neither would our son. He speaks very candidly, and he's happy that we adopted his siblings.
Anna and Tanner have been together their whole lives. They are best friends, and really clung to each other when we brought them home. We are blessed by them, as we have been stretched and torn, healed and restored by God through being their parents. The adoption has been a blessing, but I was not prepared for the five years that we have lived. Thankfully each day, we get to begin again :)
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