Aaron & Brynn's Adoption Journey



Miranda is our second daughter, and our second adoption. The roller-coaster ride that brought Miranda into our family has had MANY more ups and downs than the one that gave us our first daughter, Samantha. A couple of months before Miranda was placed with us, we had an adoption fail. We went to Georgia and had a beautiful baby boy in our care for 3 days – and then had to give him back to his birthmother. It was a very difficult time. We were heartbroken and decided we would NEVER go back to Georgia and it’s “10 days until relinquishment is binding” policy.

However, in mid-September, at just the right time in our healing process, we learned that a birthmother, in Georgia, was “very interested” in our family. The caseworker we worked with during the failed adoption kept us in mind as she continued to work with her birthmothers. We spoke with our caseworkers and sent an email introduction to our birthmother the following week. That Sunday we are once again driving down to Georgia for an early delivery. That night we met “Mama S” and our sweet baby, Miranda, who was only a few hours old. She was, and is, a beautiful baby with big, dark eyes. We spent the next two days visiting Mama S and Miranda in the hospital and getting to know them better. Mama S signed her relinquishment papers, and we all went “home.”

“Home” for us was actually a hotel in Georgia, where we spent the next 10 days at high anxiety, as we communicated with Mama S and tried to help her through her grieving. We had lunch with Mama S a couple of times while we were there and continue to have a good relationship with her.

Miranda is now 3 and a half months old. The journey to bring her home was brim full of ups and downs. Throughout the process, we know we had our Heavenly Father’s help and guidance. We know that the Lord is aware of all of His children and knows our unique situations and loves each of us.



Emily & Nate's Adoption Journey

Nate and I were married seven years ago and after those first few years we decided to start building our family. We were able to get pregnant very quickly and were blessed to welcome a little baby boy, Carter, a little over three years ago. After his birth I had some complications with an autoimmune disease I suffer from. I was put on some new medications and was told that while I was on these drugs I would not be able to get pregnant again due to certain risks. After a year and a half of good health but no end in sight in taking the medication we decided to pursue adoption.

We got all our paperwork in order and got our profile up and running in January of 2009. I was in no big hurry to have another baby so we just patiently waited for the next nine months with absolutely nothing happening. After attending one of the FSA conferences we decided that we needed to get things moving and so we got set up on Parent Profiles in October.

We averaged about two contacts a month while on the site and had several interesting email correspondences with birthparents. But after seven months we started to wonder how long we should continue to stay on the site. While visiting my family in California in April I got the first email contact from our birthmother. She was having a little baby girl in a month and wondered if we would like to be her family.

I spoke to her a few times on the phone in the next several days and tried to get everything together. She was living in Pennsylvania and so the Maryland LDSFS office sent a caseworker out to visit with her that very first week. After that things began to fall into place.

As soon as I got back from California we headed up to meet her and her daughter for the first time. We had such a wonderful first meeting and her daughter and Carter really hit it off.

The next few weeks were a roller coaster as we waited for her to go into labor. She was often difficult to get a hold of and we were anxious all the time that things weren’t going to work out. She made it to her due date and so we headed up there for her induction. I was able to be in the labor and delivery room with her all the way and wow what an amazing experience that was. She had a difficult labor and ended up needing a C-Section. As I saw our baby girl for the first time at a whopping 10 lbs. 9 oz., I was completely overwhelmed with love for her and her birth mom who was giving us the most precious gift.

The hospital stay was a very special time where we bonded with Kennedy’s birth family. Her birth mom was so strong and we were filled with an amazing love for her and her family. Adoption really is all about love.

I stayed in Pennsylvania for a week while we waited for interstate paperwork and then was able to take her home. We had such an incredible experience and feel so blessed to have her in our family. We still keep in touch with her birth mom and hope to continue that relationship long into the future.

Continue in Patience

President Uchtdorf gave a wonderful talk during the last General Conference about patience.

WAITING IS HARD for everyone!

Pres. Uchtdorf: "I learned that patience was far more than simply waiting for something to happen – patience required actively working toward worthwhile goals and not getting discouraged when results didn’t appear instantly or without effort…Patience is not passive resignation, nor is it failing to act because of our fears. Patience means active waiting and enduring. It means staying with something and doing all that we can- working, hoping, and exercising faith; bearing hardship with fortitude, even when the desires of our hearts are delayed. Patience is not simply enduring; it is enduring well!”

When I read the above statement, I immediately knew what Pres. Uchtdorf meant. Last year when my husband and I were approved and waiting to adopt, we felt that once our profile was complete that we had done all that we could or all that was required of us. Of course we wanted to grow our family, but our “passive resignation” was an effort to avoid the pattern of emotions tied to adoption and waiting. Six months later and without any contacts, we realized that we needed to be more prayerful and earnest about the blessing that we wanted. When we consistently sought the Lord’s guidance, then we knew what we should do. There was no question in our minds. Prayer led to greater faith, hope, desire, and answers. We wanted to do all that we could to receive this blessing and when we finally made that effort, the Lord’s blessings began to flow. If we hadn’t made the effort and exercised faith, we could have missed one of the most important opportunities of our lives.

Pres. Uchtdorf: “Every one of us is called to wait in our own way. We wait for answers to prayers. We wait for things which at the time may appear so right and so good to us that we can’t possibly imagine why Heavenly Father would delay the answer.”

I know that the Lord has a plan for all of his children. He loves each of us and remembers all of our heart’s desires. Continue on in faith, knowing that he will provide a way and hope that all that you do will bring you closer to receiving the blessings that you seek.

Pres. Uchtdorf: “If we wait patiently for the Lord, He will incline unto us. He will hear our cries. He will bring us out of a horrible pit and set our feet upon a solid rock. He will put a new song in our mouths, and we will praise our God. Many around us will see it, and they will trust in the Lord.”

Sara Hayman

IN/KY FSA Chair

To read more about Sara and Jared's journey to adopting their son,

go to posts on Sara's blog: Part 1 and Part 2

Sophie & Kelly's Adoption Journey

Our adoption journey began a year ago in Hawaii. When Kelly returned home from Iraq, we quickly (within 2 weeks) got all our paperwork and visits taken care of with LDS Family Services in Hawaii. You see, I have always known (since I was a young girl) that the Lord had a special child or children in mind for me and my future hubby to adopt. I was always okay with not being pregnant, I really wanted to adopt because that's what I felt the Lord wanted for our family.

Well, the years passed and Kelly really wanted to be able to make our babies, so we were able to get pregnant and we had three children. But, my body didn't seem to want to let our babies "bake" long enough--they were all born prematurely. We decided that we were probably done, so on our youngest child's first birthday, Kelly had a vasectomy. However, the night before, I had a dream that a little girl was waiting to join our family but I didn't tell Kelly in time.

For a time, my heart was saddened because I knew a special spirit was meant to join our family. However, Kelly did not have the same feelings about adoption. And so I waited for the Lord to touch his heart. More time passed and Kelly's best friend and his wife adopted a beautiful baby girl through LDSFS in Utah. They had a wonderful experience with adoption and Kelly's heart was softened. After he returned home from a 7 month deployment in Iraq, he told me he was ready to proceed with finding our baby girl. YEAH! I felt a real sense of urgency so we got right to work and got everything in within two weeks.

I thought we would adopt really fast, but we waited and waited and waited..... In that time we worked with LDS Family Services, Parent Profiles, and some other agencies in Utah, but ultimately we were led to Premier Adoption Agency in Nevada in November 2009. Just when I had lost all hope, we got the call from our agency in Nevada that we had only been working with for three months. Our baby was waiting, but she was recovering from being really sick and we were told that she might have some problems in the future because of her birthmom's prenatal drug-use. So, we prayed really hard for confirmation and called her doctors; discussing our options, but we knew from the first time we saw her pictures that she was ours! Everything just fell into place and our feelings were confirmed over and over through the Spirit that we had found Our baby, the One meant for our family.

Sophie is also breastfeeding their new baby girl through Induced Lactation. (See these two articles here and here for more info). If you want to know more about her experience send an email to indianafsa@gmail.com.

Jared, Esther, and Aurora's Story

Jared and I had discussed adoption for years but never felt like the time was right. Then in December 2007 we attended our Stake Conference when one of the speakers was from LDS Family Services. When we came home we both disclosed to each other that during the meeting we felt that it was time to begin the adoption process, that Heavenly Father had a special baby in mind for us.

We contacted LDS Family Services and were given some paperwork to fill out. Then in February we met with the LDS Family Services social worker over the Indiana and Kentucky area, Dave Pitcher, and were given more paperwork to fill out. Over that spring and summer we had interviews, our home study and filled out paperwork.

In Sept 2008 we were finally in the waiting stage of the adoption process. We still needed to make a second, new profile for the new website. We put this off for a few months then I felt the Holy Ghost confirm to me that if we did not get the new profile completed, we would not have the baby Heavenly Father intended for us placed with us. We finished the second profile and three weeks later an expecting mother contacted us.

We emailed with this mother, who wishes to be called Momma A, for about a month and then agreed to have phone contact with her. We talked on the phone and texted for about a month and then she officially made the decision to place her baby with us. The Spirit was consistently confirming that this was Heavenly Father’s plan to all of us. We have so much love for Momma A and she for us. The baby girl was due in a month. Momma A wanted us there for the birth and even arranged for us to have a room at the hospital.

We were there for the birth of our daughter, Aurora, and it was an incredible experience but also draining and surreal. Everyday I look at my daughter and I am amazed at how much joy and love is in my life. We knew we wanted to have a family but we never realized how wonderful it would be to have our daughter and to have Momma A in our lives. Adoption is by far the best thing that has ever happened to us and we feel so grateful for all that have helped us in many different ways to accomplish the establishing of our family!

Jared and Esther are interested in being mentors to others who are considering adoption or working through the adoption process. If you have questions or just want to know more about how it was like for them or to discuss how it is going for you please contact them at ejmedwards@gmail.com.

We are the Haymans

Hello FSA members and friends! As co-chair of Indiana/Kentucky FSA chapter, I'd like to introduce myself and my family. My name is Sara Hayman. My husband Jared and I have been married seven years. Our daughter Emerson or "Emmie" is 2 years old. She came to us through the miracle of adoption and has blessed our lives every day since we first met her. My husband and I met as undergrads at Purdue University where I studied elementary education and Jared studied business. We moved to Terre Haute for a few years where I taught second grade and Jared obtained an MBA from ISU. We are back in West Lafayette and are happy to call it home.

We started the adoption process in August of 2006 and finished our paperwork that December. By the middle of February, we were contacted by our daughter's birth parents through Parent Profiles. Her birth mother had only three short weeks before she was due when they chose us to be adoptive parents. We had expected at least a year long wait, so this seemed too good to be true. Emerson was born in Kentucky where state law requires a 30 day waiting period before a hearing is held to relinquish birth parents' rights. It was a trying time for us wondering if at the end of a 30 day bonding period, we would be able to take little Emmie home. But her birth parents were resolute in their decision to place her with us and for that, we will always be grateful. Adoption has changed us for the better. It has increased our faith in the Lord. We know that he has a plan for everyone. He wants us to have joy in our lives; especially that joy that only family can bring. He answers prayers and he cares very much about His children. We admire birth parents' selflessness and bravery and speak of them with reverence. We hope that our story touches others in some way and changes some misconceptions about adoption.

We are excited to be part of FSA. We look forward to meeting you and learning about your journey, experiences, and families. We pray that whatever stage of life you are in, that your families will be blessed.

Please check the FSA blog weekly! We will update it often with upcoming events and activities, great articles, and spotlights/success stories. It is a great way to stay informed and in touch with other adoptive families that have adopted or are hoping to adopt soon. We welcome your feedback and hope to hear what you would like to see on the blog. Feel free to make comments and contact us any time!