"Devin was a beacon of support throughout the process, he provided us the reassurance we needed to stay strong, grounded, and hopeful."

We always wanted to grow our family and adoption was something close to home. Brantt had adopted siblings through foster care and when we struggled with some infertility issues, it became apparent that it was meant to be the one path for us. 

Adoption was on our hearts and in June of 2020, after having some free time to reflect thanks to the pandemic, we decided to start the journey. After some late nights of researching and the resources our home study agency provided, we stumbled across RG Adoption Consulting. We found Becca’s video, walking us through the entire adoption process, and felt instantly connected to her. 

We reached out to RG Adoption Consulting right away and attended their Virtual Adoptive Family Symposium. We sat through it and were so inspired by the large community and focus on education. We signed up shortly after and joined the client community. It felt like every door began to open for us and we didn’t look back! 

After completing our home study and profile, we were an “active” family by November. We began to see potential adoption situations and things were definitely overwhelming at first. It was hard to get our heads around it all, but luckily that’s where our consultant, Devin, came in. 

Devin was a beacon of support throughout the process, he provided us the reassurance we needed to stay strong, grounded, and hopeful. Through his guidance, we were able to remain patient and take a few deep breaths. 

It was hard not being chosen by a few different expectant mothers, but when we were presented with the situation about our now daughter’s birth mother, it felt just right. We kept our hopes and expectations low, as we were just told “no” by another expectant mom earlier that day. 

That night we got THE call. It was to our complete surprise. We were on a Zoom call with the expectant mother the next day and in our car driving to Arizona two days later. 

Our daughter’s birth family requested that we came out to Arizona a little early to get to know one another and truly begin on our path to an open adoption. We heard the news that she would be coming into the world a little early, so we drove through the night and made sure to be there for her birth.  

It turned out to be a false alarm, so we spent a week getting to know the birth family and fostering a beautiful relationship with them. It was a huge blessing.

After another false alarm, our daughter was born right on her due date. Melissa was in the delivery room and even got to be the first one to hold our little girl. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, Brantt met her for the first time from the parking lot of the hospital through FaceTime! It was surreal and joyful and the best moment of our lives. 

The hospital staff was beyond supportive. They helped us capture every moment with pictures and videos. We tried to be delicate in considering our celebration while being there for our daughter’s birth mother through the complex emotions she was facing. Melissa was her support person and she wanted to honor that responsibility fully. For 24 hours, we bonded and cherished that we both were and always will be her mother. Melissa could have never dreamt of anything better. 

Both of our daughter’s birth parents were fully committed in their decision to place us with us. We were showered with love, excitement, and advice from her birth parents, since they have a 2-year old daughter as well. 

Looking back on our path to adopting, we couldn’t describe it as anything but a whirlwind experience. There were days when we thought it could go on forever, but the reality was that our journey and everything in between happened so fast. We’re just over the moon with our little girl and all of life’s adventures to come.