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Nikolas
 We
had been in the adoption process for a year and a half before we found
Journeys of the Heart. By chance, a friend of ours had dinner with her
sister and her sister’s friend – a friend who had adopted two children
through Journeys of the Heart a number of years before. Our friend
encouraged us to get in touch with Journeys, to see if we could work with
them in addition to the agency we had been working with.
At first we were a bit
skeptical that it would be possible to work with an agency on the other side
of the country. After such a long wait with our local adoption agency, we
weren’t sure if it even made sense to get involved somewhere else. But,
after receiving the Journeys materials and speaking at length with Jessica,
we were convinced that Journeys of the Heart was the right match for us.
Before getting
involved in the adoption process, we had spent a lot of time reading
material from various agencies and looking at their websites and asking
questions. It seemed like most agencies were the same, and we ultimately
chose to work with an agency colleagues of ours had used before. After
finding Journeys of the Heart, we learned that not all agencies are the
same.
From the very
beginning, we felt welcomed and accepted at Journeys. Our questions were
always  answered,
no matter how silly they seemed to us, and we were made to feel that even
those silly questions were important in a complex process like adoption. We
very much appreciated the effort that is made each month to keep families
informed of what is going on in the domestic program. It helps so much to
know what is happening and when things are busy or when things slow down.
Even though we only communicated with Journeys of the Heart by phone or
email for quite a few months before we ever met anyone, there is something
very positive about the people who are Journeys and that in turn made us
feel very positive about working with them.
One thing that we
really appreciated about the Domestic Program at Journeys is that birth
mothers were given a large selection of families to choose from. That meant
that early on in our relationship with Journeys, we were being considered by
birth mothers. Even though we were not chosen several times, it helped to
know that we weren’t just on a long list of families who never had the
opportunity to even be presented as adoptive parents.
When we were chosen,
it came as a surprise. It had almost been a two year roller coaster ride,
and it was an amazing feeling to hear that we had finally been chosen. We
were excited and nervous and couldn’t wait to meet our birth mother. We were
in email contact with her for a few weeks before we made the trip out to
meet her, and we were so glad that we’d had the chance to start our
relationship with her before we met in person. It made our first actual
meeting, about one month before our baby was born, seem like we were getting
together with an old friend rather than a new one.
The birth of Nikolas
and our journey to meet him and bring him home was one filled with
excitement, emotion, and some anxiety. We had planned to travel a week
before Nikolas was due so that we could be there for the birth. We were so
honored that our birth mother had asked us to be there that we wanted
 to
make sure that we were. Ultimately, our plans changed Nikolas decided
to join the world two weeks early. A mad dash across the country meant that
we met Nikolas when he was about ten hours old, and even though it was
almost midnight, both our birth mother and Jessica were at the hospital
waiting for us to arrive. That first moment of meeting Nikolas was quite
magical, and we knew our long wait had been for a reason – Nikolas was meant
to be ours.
We were so impressed
with the kindness that everyone at Journeys of the Heart, especially
Jessica, showed us during our week in Oregon and the ongoing communication
we have
received upon our return home. We would highly recommend Journeys to anyone
who is about to embark on the journey of adoption. It is tremendously
rewarding to work with people who really care.
We absolutely adore
Nikolas and are so enjoying watching him grow. After so many years of trying
to build a family, now that Nikolas is here we can’t imagine having a child
join us in any other way. We are looking forward to our on going
relationship with his birthmother and, at some point, working with Journeys
again when Nikolas is ready for a brother or sister.
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