If you are reading my blog today, you are probably looking for some emotional support. I remember how it felt to have empty arms on Christmas Day when I desperately wanted to be a mother. Even those of you who are waiting to adopt a sibling for your child still know pain, even if your arms are not empty.

Some of you are waiting to adopt children who are living in a foster home or an orphanage. I can only imagine how your heart yearns to be with your child and how it must break knowing that your child is having to spend his holiday without his forever family.... more

I spent two Christmas Eves in the "waiting to adopt" mode. The first Christmas came around about 6 months after our home study was approved. I kept hoping for a Christmas miracle in which the phone would ring, telling us that an expecting mother had chosen us to adopt her unborn baby, but that was not meant to be.

Our agency begins showing all profiles of hopeful adoptive parents to expecting mothers as soon as the home study is approved, so I had hoped that we would be matched right away. After... more

My husband and I received the call right around Thanksgiving that we were matched with a baby whose due date was right around Christmas. As you can imagine, that was one busy time. Because babies are known for coming both early and late, we had no idea when to expect our bundle of joy. And because the expecting mother would have 10 days after the baby's birth to choose to parent, we did not know whether we would be spending Christmas with our forever child or not.

We made all of the usual preparations for anyone expecting a new baby, but I was really torn about... more

When my husband and I were waiting to adopt, it was hard to decide whether to make plans in advance. On the one hand, it could take a long time to be matched with an expecting mother, so there was no point in putting our lives on hold. On the other hand, we did not want to pay a lot of money toward a vacation, only to lose our deposit if we were matched quickly.

This issue became even more of a struggle during the holiday season. Should we plan on traveling to visit family in another state for Christmas? What if we were matched at the last minute? Even worse,... more

Now that we have worked through the Top Ten List of ways to survive the wait, let’s focus on other areas of the waiting period that can be a struggle.

For those of us who desperately want to become parents, there are three time bombs built into our calendars. Those time bombs are called Christmas, Mother’s Day, and Father’s Day. While the rest of the world is celebrating the joy of family, waiting parents are reminded in flashing neon that they are, once again, being left out in the cold.... more