Finding beauty in a "failed" adoption

by Rachelle D.
(Garland, TX, USA)

My family met two beautiful siblings from Colombia and then pursued their adoption for a year and a half. We completed every step of the process, raised every penny necessary, and built a loving relationship with both siblings throughout the entire ordeal.

At the very last turn, as we awaited an approval from Colombia, we instead received a denial. It was the most confusing, heart-breaking thing we ever could have gone through. We grieved for the following year, not knowing if we'd ever know another thing about those two precious siblings that we already loved as our own.

In that year, we began hearing from their older sibling, who we began to grow close to through e-mail throughout our grieving process. After continuing to grow closer and closer to him, our family flew to Colombia to meet him once he had turned eighteen.

We spent two beautiful weeks with him, and now he calls us Mom and Dad and we are his family. It's not the story we envisioned, but we found our son through what seemed like a failure. We love and adore him and are honored to be able to be his support now that he is living life on his own.

I wrote a book about our experience. It is called From The Mountain . . . To The Valley . . . And Back!: Our family's journey of faith and God's grace through a failed international adoption, by Rachelle D.

Through this experience, I have learned just how much these children need families, no matter how old they are. I'm so glad I didn't give up completely and miss out on him. He fills my life with incredible joy, and he melts my heart every time he calls me Mom.