Our First Essay

For the first application, we had to write about why we want to adopt a baby from China. We thought you'd enjoy reading this:

Like so many couples, when we decided to expand our family, we thought it would mean having biological children. We felt we ought to give the biological route “our best shot” while age was still on our side and for us, that meant in vitro fertilization. We did get pregnant following IVF but it ended in miscarriage at 9 weeks. After looking in our hearts, we realize that the journey is about finding our child, not about getting pregnant. So after much prayer and discussion, we believe we’re meant to find our child another way.

In April, 2005, Missy visited China and fell in love with the people, country and culture. She heard from the translators about China’s population control measures and the plight of the orphans touched her heart deeply. Given that firsthand experience and the feeling that God’s moving us toward international adoption, we feel China is where we will find our child.

We have always believed God would give us a child…it would just be a matter of discovering how God would bring that child into our lives. As it turns out, our child may be half a world away. And that’s fine with us. The only thing that matters is that we will finally get to hold our child in our arms.

While some people look at our long journey and see heartbreak and disappointment, we see a legacy of love. One day, we will tell our child about the long journey we took and it will be a story filled with love and hope.