"Without Becca, our adoption would not have happened - and for that, we are eternally grateful!"

The journey of how Ayre and Vida entered into our lives began back in May 2016. We decided that we wanted to expand our family through adoption. I had a teenage son from a previous marriage and my husband, Mike, had never had children of his own. While our own families have been touched by adoption, we didn’t know how to begin this quest for ourselves. Fortunately, a friend shared her family’s story and introduced us to a local adoption agency, with whom we began our adoption journey. We learned about open adoption and how critical it is to an adoptee’s identity. We prepared ourselves for a transracial adoption and heard first-hand that non-African American parents have to be intentional about how they parent their African American children. These classes were critical to our understanding of adoption.

After hearing nothing for eight months, a friend who happened to know Becca from growing up, put us in touch. We signed up with RG Adoption Consulting and through Becca’s guidance, we applied to six additional agencies. In early October of 2017, we were matched with a birth mom in Arizona who was pregnant with an African American boy. Mike and I flew down to Arizona and spent the afternoon with this birth mom. We texted everyday for months. We began believing this was going to happen. We bought sleepers and bottles and a friend donated items for our home. We researched barber shops and churches with the help of two other friends (yes, we had quite a tribe of friends on our team helping us every step of the way). We were going to be parents, again! However, two days before we were to adopt, the birth mom decided to parent her son. While this was a blessing for her family, we experienced tremendous grief. Baby items were packed up and hidden from sight. Equipment was returned. I took time off of work to sit with the pain and regroup.

Winter break was spent reworking our adoption profile, which we never got to the first time around because of how quick everything happened, and enjoying unexpected family time. Returning to work was a welcomed distraction. My biology students made my day, every single day, and my work as a learning support coach also allowed me to nurture and nourish. However, things changed on January 25th when Becca sent us a baby-born situation where twins were born in Colorado. After speaking with Mike, we decided to share our profile with the birth mom. After reviewing ten different family profiles, the birth mom picked us! We spoke to her four days later. When we were notified that the birth mom wanted to meet us in person, we packed up the hidden baby clothes, and flew out to Colorado on Saturday, February 3rd. The school Mike and I work at has been, and continues to be, incredibly supportive and flexible by allowing us to fly to Colorado with no end date in sight!

That first week in Colorado was a whirlwind! Actually, it was more like a tornado. Fortunately, we had a great team from the adoption agency supporting us hour by hour (I kid you not!). We met, laughed, and cried with the birth mom and her mom. After two very long days, we were gifted by the birth parents, our daughters, Ayre and Vida.

Mike and I have enjoyed getting to know these girls. Everyday we swap girls to ensure they get to spend time alone with mommy and daddy. We also make sure they get some twin time together! We are both blissed-out and exhausted.

We want to thank everyone who helped us realize our dreams, prayed for us, supported us, and laughed and cried with us. We learned how important surrounding ourselves with a trusted team of family, friends and professionals really was in supporting us throughout our journey. We needed them when things were at their lowest and just as much to celebrate the greatest joys! We especially want to acknowledge Becca from RG Adoption Consulting, who was instrumental in leading us to our girls. Without her, our adoption would not have happened and for that, we are eternally grateful!