Thank you PROCARE, for helping us grow our family

Adoption Story

My husband and I decided to go to an orientation meeting at PROCARE and began our adoption journey. I remember being so nervous - it was all so unknown and, in many ways, out of our control. 

Meeting our social worker put our minds at ease straight away. She gave us so much information about what was ahead and left us with a checklist of things to do. This I could do - yes, it is a lot of information, but it was much quicker and easier to do than we thought it would be. Our Adoption Administrator at PROCARE (and fairy godmother) answered all our questions and kept us on track. 

Within a month we were ready for our next meeting - the dreaded Psycho-social assessment. On the way to the assessment my husband and I were both nervous. I remember asking him if he thought we were as happily married as we thought we were and if we are good parents (we had a 19-month-old at the time). He just rolled his eyes, but I couldn’t help but feel like there was a 1% chance that we would say something wrong and this would be the end of our journey. Once again, I was worried about nothing. The assessment was relaxed, very encouraging and thought provoking. We passed and were straight away booked in for the three final screening phases.

Those three events all happened within the next three weeks. Things were moving fast. The home visit was lovely, the social worker got to meet our daughter and gave us invaluable advice on how to prepare her for the baby sister who would join her soon.

After we completed the screening process, the hardest part of the journey started. The wait. It’s a weird time emotionally - you want to start preparing for your little one but at the same time know that it could take many more months until you get the call and so you want to protect your heart too. Every time my phone rang, I jumped and hoped that this would be it. I thought of our baby girl every day and constantly found myself praying that wherever she was waiting for us that she would be so loved. I had a strong sense that she had already been born and was with a kangaroo mom waiting out the three months to come to us. As the end of each week neared and it reached Friday, I felt so sad thinking that another week had passed with no call. Late one Friday afternoon my phone rang. I slowly went to fetch it thinking it was probably a telemarketer, but it wasn’t - it was our social worker! This was the call! We had been matched and would go meet with the social worker the following week to find out more. My heart was bursting with joy.

Our court date was originally supposed to be the next week but due to circumstances beyond PROCARE’s control it would only be five weeks later. Those weeks were some of the hardest weeks of my life. We had seen photos of our sweet girl and were put in contact with the kangaroo mom but were not allowed to meet her until the day when we would go to court. I remember being angry about the situation, then feeling heartbroken, then nervous and excited but more than anything my heart ached every single day for our little girl who I just wanted to have with me. During this time, our kangaroo mom sent me photos throughout each day and kept me updated on everything. She was my saving grace. There is no one like her and I deeply appreciate what she did for us. She stood in the gap and loved our baby when we couldn’t be there. 

The time finally passed and our “gotcha day” arrived. I was so nervous as we packed the baby bag and headed out to meet our daughter. Before we could meet her, we first had to go over some documents and admin - I don’t remember anything that they said. Then they brought her in, and my life changed forever. 

We are happily settled as a family of four. Our days are busy, we laugh a lot, there is a bond between my girls like nothing I could have imagined, and we are filled to the brim with love. Our adoption journey has been nothing short of amazing. The process was wonderful, and the result is indescribable. My heart is full of the love that we’ve gained through our baby girl. 

Thank you PROCARE, for helping us grow our family.