Bethany's Family

March 21, 2012

We've marked March 21st, World Down Syndrome Day, in our family for a few years now. We knew we wanted to adopt a child with Down syndrome, and we wanted to use that day to educate and introduce our biological children to the wonderful DS community.
Two years ago we started the international adoption process. We fell in love with a waiting child and hoped all the paperwork would move quickly so she could be ours.

Then, Covid-19 shut down the entire world.

We were stuck. "Our" little girl, who we already loved so much, was stuck. We'd invested so much time and money and energy, but as the months dragged on and we still didn't have an official match, we knew we had to change directions. We grieved. We updated our home study to pursue a domestic adoption. We struggled to create a profile book, and we contacted Stephanie at the NDSAN. We presented 9 times before we got "the call"...on March 21, 2021, World Down Syndrome Day.

Our sweet Bethany was never God's plan b for us. We dropped everything to rush to a NICU across the country and proceeded to experience a million winks and nudges from God. Our journey to Bethany and our first weeks were positively littered with signs that she was always meant to be our girl.

We are so thankful for GLADS for the financial help provided to help us grow our family through adoption.

12/2022