Hoping to Adopt!

As many of you know, Michael and I have been going through the requirements and training to be qualified to adopt. We are thrilled to announce that we were officially put on the LDS Family Services website to be available to birth mothers to choose from!

The link to our profile is: https://itsaboutlove.org/ial/profiles/25838662/ourMessage.jsf

We have been waiting for this moment and couldn't be more happy that all our hard work has gotten us to this point.

I want to write a little about how we came to the decision to adopt for proof when Michael and I are old and arguing about this time in our lives, we will know what really happened:)

So here it is: Before Michael & I got married we had discussed having a family and the importance of it to both of us. We came to the agreement that we would start trying to have children when Michael was close to graduating from college. We followed this plan, but when the time came we didn't have any luck. I thought the problem was probably me and since during this time I was working at an OBGYN clinic, I decided to get checked out. After a year of various medications and ultrasounds I was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. This makes it difficult to get pregnant, but not impossible. I was put on different medication to help with my PCOS and still no luck. My doctor was sure she could get me pregnant even with my "problems", so she decided it would be a good idea to get Michael checked too.

We took Michael to the doctor and they had him do some lab work to see what his sperm count was. The results weren't good. His doctor determined that Michael had a varicocele (an enlargement of the veins that can cause a rise in temperature affecting the mobility of sperm). Michael was scheduled for surgery to hopefully solve his "problem". During surgery, the doctor discovered that Michael's tube on his left side wasn't connected. So with his "problems" and my "problems" our probability to have our own children was looking slim.

My doctor recommended that we try one last thing, which was artificial insemination. She thought that if she put any live sperm right at the egg, then maybe our chances would increase. We tried this procedure 3 times and 3 times we were disappointed. At this point, we decided that maybe we should start seriously considering adoption. Mind you, that before this point we had contacted a caseworker and were slowly working on the adoption paperwork while still trying to get pregnant. We went to the temple with the question, "Is adoption right for us?" in mind. After we left the temple that night, we both knew that this was the path we were suppose to take. Since that night, we have been gung-ho on preparing to adopt.

The paperwork was quite a mountain to climb from background checks to listing our likes and dislikes. A wide variety of information was required. We also met with our caseworker, who has been such a HUGE help in this process. The day before our anniversary, we had the final check which was our home study. After all the ducks were in a row, we were published on the website- 2 1/2 years after this had all begun.

I must be honest and say that we haven't always been so gracious in accepting this trial. However, the relationship and love between Michael and I has grown so much as we've worked together, cried together, and relied on each other. Most importantly, our relationship with our Father in Heaven has also been strengthened. We have learned that although we aren't always sure as to why we are faced with certain trials, He knows the big picture and will lead us to where we should be. We are excited for what lies ahead and we hope we will be able to start our family by adopting a child!