We were a sweet little family of three. Our daughter, Jessica was our heart and we felt so blessed to have such a happy family. Our home was filled with laughter, joy and unconditional love.

Although we were a very happy and close family, we felt like a very, very special person was missing. We tried for several years to have another child but it just was not meant to happen. It soon became clear that God had another plan for us. Adoption was the answer we were looking for and we knew with all our hearts it was a beautiful way to build a family.

Our journey began on a clear October morning when my husband, daughter and myself sat down and started working on the paperwork for our adoption. The minute we began the process we felt something very special. We knew with each step of the journey we were closer to the little soul that was missing.

As a child, did you ever dream that you would one day adopt?

No, I didn't but now, I wouldn't have it any other way!

Why did you choose adoption?

My husband and I tried to have children naturally for a couple of years without success. We finally went to an infertility specialist and after two more years of appointments, needles, tests and tears we still had no answers. We gave up hope...decided to just be the two of us. Fast forward 10 years and our hearts still ached for a child to love. My mom mentioned adoption, and I seriously looked into it for the first time. What an eye-opener! We found a small agency that was a great fit for us and now we have our beautiful son.

An adoptive mom talks about her son’s open adoption…

Meet Carey and discover how open adoption has impacted her family’s life in a positive way.

We have an open adoption, and we have the most open relationship with our son’s birth parents that I’m familiar with. It was actually the only specific request we had while we were praying for our adoption. That we would be able to find a couple that wanted to be as open as we did. God was there and more than answered our prayers.

I can tell you our adoption was out of the ordinary, definitely not the norm, but the best way to describe it is just to recount what took place.

As a child, did you ever dream that you would one day adopt?

From a very early age I remember saying I was going to adopt.

Why did you choose adoption?

Since I can always remember I've wanted to adopt but before that I wanted to be a mother. I knew that at some point in my life I'd add to my family through adoption. We were blessed to grow our family through adoption after many years of infertility. Amazingly, on the day we grew our family by one through adoption we learned we would add another 9 months later, we were pregnant.

Domestic or international? Open, semi-open or closed adoption?

We choose to pursue a domestic adoption. Our adoption started out as semi-open but feel it has progressed to open or close to it. We love that we have the ability to communicate with our daughter's birthparents. It is so neat to see through their eyes their reactions to the miracle they created as she grows and accomplishes amazing and wonderful things.

As a child, did you ever dream that you would one day adopt?

Growing up, I did not know anyone that was adopted and really had no exposure to the idea.
Why did you choose adoption?

My husband and I married later in life and knew that getting pregnant on our own was not likely -- we decided to take the adoption route instead of lots of infertility treatment.

Domestic or international? Open, semi-open or closed adoption?

Both of our boys are adopted and both were domestic and semi-open. We met both birthmothers before delivery and send pictures and letters to them regularly. Our older son, who is now 9, met his birthmother when he was 4.

If you could dispel an adoption myth - would would you say?

I believe that most adoptive parents want the best for the birthmother not just themselves. We tried hard to be certain that the birthmothers had time with the babies before placing them for care with us. We truly wanted both birthmothers to feel as though it was the right choice for everyone -- the triangle of love -- the birthmother, the adoptive family and the baby.

As a child, did you ever dream that you would one day adopt?

I honestly never envisioned myself adopting as a child--I always envisioned being a mom by birth. When my husband, Mike, and I encountered some issues getting pregnant with our oldest, Ben, that's when I realized that it mattered more to me to parent a child who needed a family than to go through extreme measures to have a child be biologically tied to me. We were fortunate to become pregnant with Ben not long after, but it was wild to have that sense of knitting our family together become a reality a few years later.

Why did you choose adoption?

Nearly five years ago, Mike and I were blessed with and then had to say goodbye to our first daughter, Sarah, and her traumatic birth left me permanently barren. There were so many layers of feelings and so many different sensations of ache. We knew how incomplete our family felt and how much love we still had spilling over. We wanted to parent again so very much. So we took the time to grieve our sweet girl, to heal our hearts and mend our spirits, and prepare for this new journey in front of us.

My husband and I never felt entitled to anyone else's baby or that someone should stay pregnant and birth their child for us, just because we no longer could have one of our own. We knew there were many choices that felt best for each woman and we wanted to connect with someone who felt that adoption was the right choice for *her* and her baby. It was never an expectation--just a huge hope.

Domestic or international? Open, semi-open or closed adoption?

We researched all the different paths to adopting a child and ultimately felt drawn to domestic newborn adoption. We longed to experience all of the rites of passage that come with raising a child from his or her beginnings, even the crazy, sleepless nights!

Have you watched the most recent video added to BraveLove’s video library? Meet Matt, Lori and Cathy. You can hear their different adoption stories from three very personal perspectives.