Jen’s Journey to Parenthood with Adoptions From The Heart

A picture with Maxine 10 years apart As a single mother, I set out on the adoption journey with Adoptions From The Heart almost 15 years ago.  I had researched many agencies and I loved so many things about AFTH. They had a great international program that they were involved with at the [...]

Our World Changed Forever and Our Lives Truly Began

Abby, Josh, and baby Grayson at the AFTH Family Picnic Adoptee to Adoptive Mother Adopting a child has always been a dream of mine. I myself was adopted from South Korea as an infant. I always felt strongly about wanting to give a child the life, love, and opportunity that I was given [...]

Our Adoptions From The Heart Story

Our Adoptions From The Heart Story – Matthew and Elizabeth Our Daughter Liliana was born on October 22, 2013 Starting a Family We were married for several years not thinking we’d want to have children right away.  We wanted to establish our careers, travel, and enjoy our new lives together.  Children were not in the [...]

My World is Now a Better Place

Julianna by Diana Cardamone Photography Chris and I had it all. Great families, amazing friends, rewarding careers, and good health. Sounds good, right? What could be better? However, to me, my world was just not right; it felt incomplete. The excitement of beginning a family was fresh in our minds and we entered [...]

Celebrating Adoptions From The Heart’s 35th Anniversary

Intro The desire to parent a child was the driving force that led us to adoption.  We both came from “traditional” family structures with a mother and father plus siblings.  I grew up in the Maryland suburbs of our nation’s capital amidst a diverse shifting population in the turbulent 1960s and 1970s.  It felt like [...]

Getting Pregnant After Placing Your Child for Adoption

Life-Long Choice Many women have been in this position before. Earlier on in their life, they had an unplanned pregnancy and they placed their child for adoption. Later on in life, they may decide they are ready to start a family of their own. However, placing a child for adoption does not just end there; [...]

Reconnecting with Guatemala Alongside My Mother

My mother and I went back to Guatemala, my birth country, a few years ago. We traveled all across the country and did many things but what I enjoyed most about going to Guatemala was just seeing a whole country of people who looked like me. I felt like I could relate to them, in [...]

And Our Story Continues

“& our story continues” Left to Right: Kelly, Julianna, and Jason Hello! We’re Jason and Kelly. Birth parents since 2016. Adoption has been a journey, one we never imagined being on, but are learning from daily. Julianna is our miracle baby who brought us to this community. Chris and Jaime are the most [...]

Our Story-Jim and Therese’s Family Through Adoption

Jim and Therese and children on bicycles Road to Becoming a Party of Five Jim and I were high school sweethearts with a dream of what our future would look like.  We were married in 1987 and lived in a one-bedroom apartment.  Jim worked a full-time job and I was a full-time student.  [...]

A Father’s Journey in International Adoption

George, Lorelei (wife/Mom), and Elena Runkle (Center) By George Runkle, assisted by Elena Svetlana Runkle As of the summer of 2001 we had, throughout the previous year, watched our oldest daughter graduate from college and get married, and were in the process of preparing for our other daughter’s senior year in high school. [...]