Blogs About Adoption
The adoption journey is beautiful, but it is also tough. We have found that many of our birth parents, adoptive families, and even our staff cope through writing. There are many adoption blogs out there that tackle the tough issues. A few families from AFTH offered to highlight their blogs. See excerpts from the blogs and why writing is helping them through their journey…
Blog 1: Our Loving Adoption Journey
Jill and Phil are prospective adoptive parents. Their journey hasn’t been easy. Currently, they’ve been in waiting for almost 2 years. Their blog explores the difficulties of the waiting period and ways to cope…
Excerpt:
“Phil and I had been talking about what we want this blog to look like and well, it often feels more of the same. So let me just get this part over with – waiting is terrible! Our social worker for our home study said it best when she said “Waiting is emotional torture”! With that, we have been choosing to do our best to combat those feelings and boy oh boy, it is tough! Today while I was out, I just could smell the start of Autumn around the corner! It is the time when everything is about to change yet again. The leaves will start to adorn the trees with beautiful and cheerful colors, before falling. The cool weather will quickly blow in and it will be time for long sleeves, long walks, warming my cold hands on Phil’s warm stomach *muhahaha* ;) and preparation for all the holidays!”
Why they do it:
“It is often said “When writing the story of your life, don’t let anyone else hold the pen” and until this point, we haven’t. With our adoption journey, we have had to share our pen and allow others to help us complete our story. As we write our blog, we do so with the intention of being able to express our feelings, while inspiring others to do the same. Our journey has not been easy, it has surely had it’s ups and downs over the past few years that we have been waiting. We are Phil & Jill and we invite you to share in our adoption journey with us through our blog.”
Blog 2: livelovelaugh
Blogger Samantha is a mother through adoption. However, before uniting with her little one, she had a long and difficult journey. Samantha struggled through infertility and the still birth of her first child. She blogs about her hard times through this and how she gets through it. Samantha also blogs about how to handle your child growing up and having their first sleepover!
Excerpt:
“Time To Mom Up will be my story of becoming a mom. It will be my story of what it’s like for me to be a mom. It may also include stories from other moms. It may also be about my mom. My target audience will be mostly women. After all, we all either have moms, are moms, know moms, love moms, can’t stand some moms and/or can relate to one or more of those groups! It will be for the mom who struggled to conceive. The mom who agonized waiting for the test strip to turn pink. The mom who had to survive her world without her baby in it. The mom who carried a child to term and placed her with us to raise. The mom who feels blessed every day to raise her child.
I have two daughters. One is flying outside my window the very moment that I am typing this blog in the form of a monarch butterfly. One is at camp today with big girl panties on for the first time and hopefully not making a mess! Both girls have shaped me in ways that I do not fully even realize and I want to share some of that with the world. I want to share what it’s like to be a mom to these amazing girls.
Here’s to the future of my literary career! #time2momup”
Why she does it:
“My first daughter was born still after 37 weeks and I left the hospital with a memory box and a hole in my heart. I did not know what to do. A friend of mine, a friend since the 3rd grade, suggested I start a blog. She had heard other bereaved moms had used writing as an outlet for their grief and suggested I give it a try. It was one of the best pieces of advice I have ever received.
Five years later, I am still writing. I have written about my grief, struggle to conceive, and eventual adoption of my rainbow baby. I have written about my family and my health and my battles with depression and body images and whatever else seemed pertinent to me. Writing has saved me time and time again. It has provided an outlet for my grief as well as my joy. I try to not go more than a day or two now without writing something!”
Blog 3: Adoption: Not Just My Profession, My Life
Kristy is not only mother through both birth and adoption, she is also an adoption professional. She works as the Director of Marketing and Communications for AFTH. Her blog tackles the difficulties of adoption being a prominent feature in both her professional and personal life. She also discusses the difficulties surrounding adoption disruptions…
Excerpt:
“For us, the length of our wait wasn’t the challenge. We waited only 46 day from going in the books until we got “the call” for an emergency placement. We were thrilled and could not believe it was happening; the next day, we headed to the hospital to meet Sweet Pea. But the day after returning home with her in our arms we got a second call—one we were hoping to never get.
We had spent only eight days snuggling with Sweet Pea by this point—three spent in the hospital followed by five days in a hotel huddled along the DE/PA border waiting on ICPC clearance. We had only officially been home all together as a family for a little over a day when the phone rang and my heart sank as I heard our social worker share some devastating news. We knew through all our adoption training that disruptions were a risk—and I still firmly believe that the revocation period is important and just—though, when it happens to you, that training and knowing how infrequently it happens are no comfort.”
Why she does it:
“All my life I have used writing as an outlet and throughout the adoption process I have really appreciated reading and connecting with other people’s journeys as well. Each journey can teach us something different. And when I was asked by Adoptive Families to be a featured blogger, I was honored to share my experience including the highs and lows along the way. With over a decade as an adoption professional and now recently placed with my daughter through AFTH, I hope that my writing will connect with others who are walking the path of adoption as well.”
Enjoy these blogs and consider starting your own! Share your stories with us and happy blogging!
