In 2010, the Social Welfare Department licensed Mother’s Choice to assess and support families through the local adoption process. In February 2017, we celebrated the building of 100 families through our Local Adoption Services, and our 100th Family were kind enough to share their story with us!
“We had already adopted our eldest daughter, Zara, five years ago, before moving to Hong Kong, and when we met an adoptive family from Hong Kong, we began to think about growing our family through adoption again. Our Mother’s Choice social worker, Janice, gave us a lot of guidance throughout all of our assessments as she made sure we could provide a safe and loving home for a child. Once we were approved, we began to wait for a child. We knew that every third Thursday the children who need a family are matched with parents and we eagerly awaited a phone call.
The wait felt long and we began to get discouraged. Finally, one Thursday, my phone rang, I saw Janice’s name on the screen. I panicked and dropped my phone! I was so nervous when I spoke to her, but she gave us the great news that we had been matched with a baby girl. We were given some time to think about it, but we knew the answer was “yes”!
A few days later, we went to meet our daughter, Johanna for the first time. She was six months old, and had been living in the Mother’s Choice Child Care Home. She was carried into the room and her caregiver handed her to me. When she looked at us with her huge brown eyes, she began to cry because she was so overwhelmed. Slowly she calmed down and let me hold her and feed her a bottle. For the next two weeks, we went to visit her every day so we could bond as a family.
We were so impressed with the staff and many volunteers at the Child Care Home – the way they interact with the children is so professional and caring. The day we brought Johanna home, we were given a beautiful gift, her own Lifebook, with all of her photos and milestones from her time living at the Child Care Home. She will never forget the foundation of love that the Mother’s Choice team has given to her. We were also given a photo of Johanna with her birth mother, which was taken a few months after she was born. It is a precious gift to us and we know how valuable it will be to our daughter as we tell her about the courageous woman who made a beautiful decision to allow her to have a family.
Our advice for adoption applicants is never to lose faith. There are children who are waiting for a loving family. Your role as a parent is to love and support your child no matter what is ahead. Many people tell us how kind we are to adopt a child, but we will never see it that way. We have been given the most wonderful gift of two daughters through adoption. We are so blessed.”
Frank and Andrea, adoptive parents