Our Story

Jamie and I met 20 years ago through a mutual friend, when he was in college at Valdosta State and I was still in high school. Over the next few years our friendship blossomed into love and we were married in 1993. Early on in our relationship we discussed adoption; I have always felt that there are so many children in the world in need of homes that it was unimportant whether I gave birth to my children or created my family through adoption. Eventually we agreed that we would have biological children first and perhaps one day pursue an adoption. On August 12,1999 our son Holton Chase was born, quickly becoming the center of our universe. Years went by and we looked up one day and realized that if we were going to expand our family it was probably time to get on with it, since neither of us were getting any younger. Pregnancy, however, did not come as easily the second time around. In fact, it did not come at all. Rather than pursue fertility options at that time, we began to discuss our original plan to adopt internationally. At that point we were still undecided as to whether or not we even wanted to expand our family, Holt having been an only child for so long. It was important to us that our children not be more than 5 years apart, and the timeline for that had long since come and gone. Eventually we sent off for some informational packets from several adoption agencies but did not mention it to Holt, not sure how he would react and not at all sure it was something we should pursue. A month or so later our decision became very clear indeed. As we were tucking Holt in bed on the first night of third grade, he mentioned that he was sad when he filled out paperwork that day because he didn’t have any brothers or sisters to list on the form where it asked for his personal information. I asked him what he thought we should do about that, and his reply was that we should get him a little sister. Amused, I asked how he expected us to do that. He said “well, we should just adopt one.” Now, keep in mind that he knew nothing of the conversations his Dad and I had recently had about that very same topic, so this came out of nowhere! Trying to remain calm, I asked if he knew what that meant. He replied “well, you do some paperwork and you turn it in and if they decide that you will be good parents they give you a baby.” So I said, “so where would we get a baby from? And he said “from China, my little sister is in China.” At that point Jamie and I both teared up, knowing that this was the sign that we had been waiting for that this was the right decision for our family. After tucking Holt in and kissing him good night, we went downstairs together and sat down at the kitchen table. Jamie looked at me and said those three little words every adoptive mom wants to hear- “LET’S DO IT!” And so began our journey to Maili Claire. We made the decision as a family and we look forward to traveling together as a family to bring her home.

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