Tanner Life

Our Adoption Journey

Ok, so I haven't blogged on here about our adoption journey so far. I am pretty sure that everyone we know and love is aware of our plan and how we are moving forward. I keep most of our family and friends updated weekly, if not daily, about what is going on with us. For anyone who has missed out on the details so far, I thought I'd make a summary. You know me, no summary is short on details and ramblings. This will be the first of many I imagine.

Andy and I have been hoping, praying and (cover your ears you sensitive folks) trying for a baby now almost since we got married. In June, it will be nine fantastic years. We have tossed around the ideas of fertility treatments on and off, but they never felt right. My Mom tried for nine years to have me and after trying everything medically available, she was told she wouldn't have a baby biologically. I personally, can not imagine hearing that. I am 100% positive it's not something I can handle. We know our God is bigger than that and can do whatever he wants, after all my parents eventually got me naturally and biologically. It was a "God thing"! We knew that God had something planned for us and though we weren't sure what it was, we also were pretty sure what it wasn't!!!

We have also visited the idea of adoption on and off over the years. We were never opposed to the idea, but we did have personal questions that we weren't quite able to answer. We talked to people, read information and continued wondering down our path.

The past two years God placed some people into my life that had amazing stories. I "found again" a friend from college who has three beautiful daughters through adoption and I hung on every word as I witnessed the adoption of her twin girls taking place. I felt glued to the story and it spoke to my heart daily as I ran home to check her blog and see what was happening. It was a beautiful story and they give God all the glory for their precious family. My heart begin to stir.

Last year God placed another very important friend in my life I am sure that God planned our paths to cross and friendship before we ever imagined it! As we became friends and shared our stories, on the playground non the less, we found we had a great deal in common. She shared her story with me, not knowing at the time (if I recall correctly) anything about our story. She and her husband have an amazing son (who looks just like her, is a hoot and a great teacher of the mighty Wii) through open adoption. I'd never really heard anything about open adoption and soaked up her information daily. Why is it that I'd only heard or read about going to a different state for the most closed adoption I could find? Why was that? This open adoption thing is new to me and has a beautiful story, I was touched.

I began to share daily with Andy what I'd learn from her. She brought me tons of information and I ran through it, over and over and over. She talked to me, I talked to Andy, she talked to me, I talked to Andy. Unbeknown to her, she led me to a magazine that answered some big burning questions that, as a Christian, I couldn't find an answer to concerning adoption. When I found those answers, it was like a huge light came on. I was beginning to get God's message, but not fully just yet. When I needed a friend to chat it out with though, God surely supplied.

Meanwhile over the summer I went to visit my old college friend and met her three beautiful, hilarious and amazing daughters. Kristie took me in for the day and I send (yet another) heartfelt thank you. Sometimes you just don't know how something so small, can help someone in such a big way. In our visit that day we talked about a lot of things. We reminisced about college days, talked about her adoption journey and everything in between. I imagine she had no idea that she was becoming a huge messenger with one last burning answer that I desperately needed. Sometimes God speaks through his people and thankfully I got the message loud and clear. Now all I had to do was pray that Andy would get the same message, peace and confirmation that I had gotten.

Who knew that an October Sunday evening out to eat Mexican would be the beginning of something so big. One conversation turned to another as Andy asked me if I still had all of the adoption information at home. We ran home to spend the rest of the night waist deep in brochures, magazines, newsletters and websites!

We knew that my friend's family story was one we could relate to, one that made sense to us and one that sounded like it was just what we wanted. We knew right away that going through Independent Adoption Center and seeking Open Adoption was what God had in mind for us all along. Now why couldn't we see that all along? God's timing is just perfect and only he knows that answer. Thankfully, we found the path that he had already chosen for us and we took off down it at full speed ahead. We knew before we went to the center for the first time that we were ready, on board and on our way.


Thus begins our official story. In October when we started the discussions that led to a pretty quick decision (God had been working for a long time though) that we were going to work with IAC (short for Independent Adoption Center and what I'll call it from here on out) and expand our family through open adoption!

...What happened next?...Stay tuned....