Our goals have always included children and family, so the decision to pursue adoption was not difficult. We contacted LDS Family Services just a few days shy of our second anniversary. It didn't take us long to decide that adoption was the course we should follow. We completed our Home Study in the fall of 2005 and were blessed with a beautiful daughter in the spring of 2006. We have developed a passion for the miracle of adoption.
When we met Eliza Jane’s birth mom we felt an instant love and a connection to her. We love her dearly and will be forever grateful to her for the choice she made for her daughter. We have an open relationship with her and her family and enjoy e-mail and phone communication as well as occasional visits with them. We do our best to spoil Eliza Jane's birth mother a few times a year. It is a one way we can show our love for her! Recently Eliza Jane drew a picture, wrote a note, and sealed it in an envelope. She gave me strict instructions to mail it immediately to her birth mom. I don't know what it said, but I do know that it put a smile on her birth mom's face!
We pray for Eliza's birth mom often and will always convey to our daughter the love that she had for her in choosing adoption.
Eliza Jane knows she is adopted, and knows who her birth mom is. She loves to listen to her adoption story. She has become more inquisitive as she gets older and we love sharing with her the details of her adoption and her birth family. We are grateful again and again for open adoption; there is an answer to all of her questions, and often a photo to go with it.
It thrills us to hear Eliza Jane talk to her friends about adoption. It is often very humorous, and always heartwarming. Eliza Jane was once asked by a friend if she had a birthmark. Her reply was an emphatic, "I don't have a birthmark, I have a birth MOM!" She is quick to pull out her photo album and show off photos of her birth mom, her birth grandma, and other extended family. Eliza Jane loves to tell about the time that her birth grandma came to visit and Eliza Jane accidentally knocked her camera into a nearby lake. The story is always followed by a trip to the toy room where she can produce the camera - which never recovered and is now a toy!
We look forward to adopting again. We look forward to another child in our home, and another birth mother to love!
We love to talk about adoption and would be more than willing to answer any questions you might have about Eliza Jane's adoption, or adoption in general! Please don't hesitate to contact us. We'd love to get to know you a bit better.
Jarom and Candise
jaromandcandise@gmail.com
