Show and Tell - Vol 7 - A Little Hope

Before you go to sleep,
Say a little prayer,
Every day in every way,
It's getting better and better,

Beautiful,
Beautiful, beautiful,
Beautiful Boy

- The iconic words of John Lennon from Beautiful Boy


My Show and Tell this week is a bit unorthodox. This was not the post that had been brewing in my head all day, but the afternoon's events dictacted this post. There isn't really much showing, but a good bit of telling. I'll begin at the beginning :D

When I was young, my parents were foster parents. We had around 70 some odd children in our home over a 5 year period. Some came and stayed a short time, others came and were with us for several years. One such child was a little girl who came to us at the age of 4. She was placed in foster care due to neglect on the part of her parents. Despite the age difference between her and myself (I am 7 years older than she), she and I grew very close. We loved one another just as blood siblings and, to this day, she still calls me "Sissy" occasionally.

Fast forward to the present. This same girl is now 23 years old, married and the mom of 2 little boys. She and her family are happy, but they do not have a lot of money (as is the case with many families in rural Georgia). I had not seen her in ages, but approximately 2 months ago, she approached my mom and told her she was pregnant again and she was going to be giving the child up for adoption because she could not financially, mentally, or physically afford another child. That was the last we heard until today.

This afternoon, she approached my mom again and asked if The Hubs and I would be willing to adopt her child. My mom called us and we, of course, said yes! This is a wonderful opportunity for us! My foster sister said she simply wanted to know the child would be loved and she knew that it would receive all the love in the world with us, because she had. She said she could not imagine her child with anyone in the world other than The Hubs and I.

So, we are now in hurry up and wait mode. We are scheduling a meeting with my foster sister sometime in the next few days to discuss the adoption. After that meeting, we will be contacting a lawyer and beginning the proceedings for our private adoption. Assuming the adoption goes through, we want my foster sister to be a large part of our child's life, but we want to be respectful of her wishes too. I feel a bit premature announcing this now, but I was too excited to hold it back. While I know there are many, many things that can change the outcome of this decision, The Hubs and I are cautiously optimistic.

So, if things go to plan, The Hubs and I will be welcoming our son home sometime near his due date of February 3, 2009.

By the way, anyone who has any advice on private adoption (particularly in Georgia) is welcome to leave it!