Today’s post is brought to you by Kim Heaton author of A Mother's Ramblings and currently in the process of adopting from Ethiopia.
As a teenager, I remember telling my parents I would one day adopt. Teenagers say a lot of things, though, and sometimes it’s hard to know which ones will hold true as you move into adulthood. However, for me, adoption was never far from my thoughts.
My husband and I married, went on to have two biological children, and then—over the course of a few years—realized that our family was ready to begin the adoption process. So, when Melissa asked me if I’d like to read Finding a Forever Family for a guest post on this blog, I was thrilled. Though we are adopting internationally and this book deals specifically with domestic adoption, I am always excited to read about children being united with their forever families.
Finding a Forever Family is written by Christine Devine, who is an award winning news anchor in Los Angeles. She does a segment called Wednesday’s Child, which showcases adoptable children in the foster care system. The book is divided into two main parts and also includes a brief study guide. The first part of the book deals with how Wednesday’s Child began and the emotions that Christine felt regarding her assignment. The second looks specifically at forever families which were formed because of the children shown on Wednesday’s Child segments.
The author, Christine, grew up in a family with her birth mother and her adoptive father, an adopted brother as well as a biological sister, and five foster children. Because of this background, Christine had her own ideas about whether it “worked” to adopt children from foster care. She took on Wednesday’s Child (which was previously Sunday’s child) solely as a part of her job—until she began to realize it was personal.
As she writes in the book (about a particular child/family), “Over time, we’d gone from professional to personal, and one day I woke up and realized that something miraculous had happened. I realized domestic adoption could work, and it was working, all around me.” That sentence sums up my favorite message from the book: Adoption can and does work.
The book is not without flaws,—it doesn’t always flow as well as it should, and it wasn’t the best piece I’ve ever read—but it speaks from the heart. It is a story of a woman who had seen domestic adoption turn out rather poorly in her own personal life who was then able to move beyond that to become an advocate for foster children to be united with their forever families. It showcases the beauty of adoption, beauty that doesn’t come without heartache and hard times, but beauty that is worth it because the children involved are worth it.
Each story of the various forever families was different, but the common thread remained the same: It was worth it, and I’d do it all again. Every family, no matter the circumstances, was in agreement that adoption is worth it.
As an adoptive mom-to-be, I can’t help but support a book that champions adoption. Finding a Forever Family is a first-hand look at domestic adoption, and I recommend it to anyone who has a heart for children. It is a quick read, and I believe you’ll find it to be worth your time. And who knows, maybe you’ll find yourself saying, “Adoption can work,” too.
If you are interested in reading Finding a Forever Family for yourself, you can get a copy from Amazon for just $16.99.