Happy First Birthday Kid!

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The Kid turns one today.

It is amazing to me that one year ago, Gladys and I had decided to stop any further fertility treatments. We had researched adoption and foster care several months before, so we knew that with the end of the treatments, a new phase in our life would begin.  We had no idea it would begin so quickly.

At the same time, The Kid started her life journey.  At four days old, she was taken home by her foster mother.  Her case wound through the court system, where her biological parents custodial rights were eventually terminated.  As other family members were identified and eventually found to either be unwilling or unfit to be parents, Gladys and I were moving to a new apartment and finishing our paperwork in order to become foster parents with the intent to adopt.

Our lives came together a few weeks after we turned in our final paperwork.  We received a call in mid July, asking if we would consider adopting instead of becoming foster parents first.  Nothing has been the same since.

We knew that finding a church home was important to us as a couple, that search took on a new urgency when we started the adoption process.  We began thinking about things like how to introduce our dog Barney to the baby, would we get along with the foster family, how would we handle her questions about her biological parents, where she would go for daycare and how would we deal with the inevitable questions of race.    

Many of those early questions have been settled.  We found a church we are both comfortable with just a few miles from home.  That holds true for daycare.  Barney loves his human sister, even though he is still confounded by her inability to play fetch.  Her foster family was incredibly helpful and they have already been over to visit once since The Kid has been placed with us.  The other questions are more nuanced and will depend on our ability as parents to understand the needs of The Kid.

Ultimately, I hope this is the first of many happy birthdays for The Kid.  She deserves a life that is full of happiness, success, good health and the freedom to be herself.  I can't wait to see how our lives together bloom.  





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