MomSense: Growing Your Family Through Adoption

mom·sen·se (mɒm sens) noun 1.  practical motherly intelligence that is sensible or reasonable 2. a mother’s mental discernment, realization, or recognition  – She has momsense.  OR She used her momsense to determine that something was amiss.

Meet Cate.  Her MomSense journey has spanned the ocean’s tide and mountains of paperwork.  She and her husband chose to adopt first.  Here’s Cate to tell you about her journey herself:

“From the very beginning, my life with my husband has been a glorious adventure!  We both had a passion for orphans and knew someday we would grow our family through adoption.  We also always had a heart for the western half of Hispaniola, Haiti.  This island is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere.  Little did we know, we would end up bringing home three little sweethearts from there one day.

After several twists and turns, we found an organization that facilitated adoptions in Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital.  We began our application process in October of 2005.  We accepted referrals for three little girls (then 2 years, 1 year & 5 weeks of age) in November of 2005, and our mountain of paperwork was in Haiti by February of 2006.  It was a long and arduous journey.  We hit challenging offices, overwhelming delays and many financial challenges.

After 23 months long months, our oldest and youngest, Ada and Evelyn, came home in January 2008.  Our middle daughter’s home coming would be delayed nearly 7 more months because of a challenge with one office in 2006. Although they did not have adoption jurisdiction, they would not approve signatures for any family that wanted to adopt more than 2 children.  So our dossier was split and our little Nica had to wait approval.

Finally, in July, 2008, our middle but final daughter was joined forever with her sisters and us!  Now much of our time is dedicated to supporting other adoptive parents and sharing with others about the process, joys and challenges of adoption.  Many people tell us they have a heart for adoption but don’t know where to start.

There are 3 main routes you can take

1. Foster/adoption – where a child that has been removed from his biological family by the state and is placed in your certified home if and when he can then be adopted.  (more on this next week!)
2. Domestic adoption – where a birth mother here in America chooses an adoption plan for her child (even embryos!).
3. International adoption – where you are approved by the US and a foreign government to have a child placed in your family.

Each type has several pros and cons and varying costs involved.  A great place to start is to join a local adoption playgroup. You can find several in the valley on Yahoo Groups.

These beautiful kids are so very worth all of the paperwork struggles and long periods of waiting just to have them.  They are delightful unique precious creations that have been through more than we could ever imagine. They are strong survivors and continue to amaze me! People sometimes say how blessed my children are or what a great choice we made to adopt them. The truth is we are the ones that are so immensely blessed to have been chosen by God to be their parents.”

Learn more about Cate, here.

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How many children do you have?  Three girls
What are their ages?  7, 5, 4
What is your favorite thing about being a mom?  experiencing life through their eyes
What is your least favorite thing about being a mom?  seeing them hurt
What do you know now that you wish you knew before becoming a mom?  Mommies need to take care of themselves, too.
What drains you?  running on no sleep
How do you recharge?  sharing a warm chai latte with my hubby
Where is your favorite place in Scottsdale to go with your children?  Sola Coffee Bar
Where is your favorite place in Scottsdale to go with your spouse?   Cafe Forte
Complete this sentence: I can’t believe I’m a mom because I still enjoy a good game of Tetris