We are so excited to announce the arrival of Huxley Alexander!  The 7lbs 8oz, 20 inch baby boy was born on 12/14/20 at 10:21 pm. David and Brandon spent months cultivating a relationship with Huxley’s birth mom. They went from talking almost daily to having lunch and shopping for the baby. They all patiently waited to meet the little man. When Huxley was born, David and Brandon instantly fell in love. They continue to communicate with Huxley’s birth mom and are forever grateful to her and Everlasting Adoptions. We wish you the best!

Gennifer and William adopted both of their daughters through Everlasting Adoptions. Their oldest daughter, Atalie is 5 years old and Avalyn is 2 years old. Wow, time flies!

We know Gennifer and William have their hands full, that is why we were so happy to hear from them with an update on their beautiful family of four.

“Hey! Sorry it has taken me long to respond. It’s been a busy few months figuring out school and work and all the things with Covid! We are well, busy as you know ha ha! Here’s a little update on the girls:

Atalie turned five in May and is in kindergarten. She is a cheerleader for the little football team at her school, she still loves worship, family, gymnastics and playing with friends! She is pretty much cheering 100% of the time. She is very smart and does well in school.

The little one Ava (Avalyn) turned two in February. She is busy, so sweet, loves to play and sing! She is a little more shy than Atalie, but is still very social! She is at home with me this year. She started gymnastics this semester and loves that, she loves going to church, loves family, and doing anything her big sister does! Oh yes, and they both love to go fishing! As you can imagine I have thousands more pictures, if you would like more I can send more when I get a chance.”

For some of us, Mother’s Day is a day of celebration and recognition for the mothers in our lives. For others, Mother’s Day is a painful reminder of what is missing. You wouldn’t be here if you weren’t longing for that special child who will one day make you a mother.

As an adoptive mother myself, who experienced many years of infertility and waiting, I vividly remember the dread I felt as Mother’s Day approached. As the years passed waiting for a child of my own, it became more and more difficult to put on a happy face and “celebrate” Mother’s Day with friends and family. I resented my friends who became mothers so easily, but also felt guilty for the resentment and anger I felt. After all, it wasn’t their fault I wasn’t a mother, but wanted to be one so deeply it hurt.

Fast forward to when I adopted my son and my first Mother’s Day as a mother. I was flooded with bittersweet emotions; happy beyond words because my dreams had finally come true, but also keenly aware of the sadness and yearning I had felt not that long ago.

Unfortunately, there is nothing I or anyone else can say that will take the sting out of this day. I want you to remember that these feelings won’t last forever and I want you to take comfort in knowing you aren’t alone. The baby who will finally make you a mother is out there! We work day and night to try and find that baby for each and every one of you.

Don’t forget that I UNDERSTAND what you are going through and I am here to help you through this. I am only a text, email or phone call away.

With Love,

Carol  

At Everlasting Adoptions, we believe a family is defined by LOVE and have successfully placed many single parent, same sex and multiracial families. In fact, 31% of our placements in the last 18 months have been with single mothers and same sex couples! If you are ready to grow your family, no matter what that family looks like, give Everlasting Adoptions a call at 310-844-1966.

#lovemakesafamily #familybuilder

Adoption has become more and more mainstream in the last several years. Many movies and TV shows attempt to portray adoption and foster care. One obvious example of this is the super popular TV show This Is Us. With every episode tugging at the viewers’ heartstrings and giving us all the feels, most would say the show does a pretty good job portraying the highs and lows of adoption. Some portrayals are better than others at accurately depicting these life-changing events. Books, movies and TV shows that have a positive message on adoption and foster care can be a wonderful resource for anyone, whether personally touched by adoption or not. As with everything, your personal narrative and life experience will play a role in determining what is the right message for you and your family.

Adoption Theme Movies of 2018

Despicable Me 3   A continuation of the story of former supervillain, Gru and his wife, Lucy who are adoptive parents to their daughters, Margo, Edith and Agnes. While the plot is not as focused on adoption as the previous movies, it is theme that is intertwined in the storyline in a positive way.

 

 

Instant Family   Idealistic couple Ellie and Pete find themselves overwhelmed when they open up their home to foster teenager Lizzy (and her two younger siblings, Juan and Lita. With the help of fellow foster parents and agency workers, they learn to navigate the joys and pitfalls of parenting to become a modern family.

 

 

 

Private Life   This Netflix original explores a topic that is oftentimes closely related to adoption; infertility. Married couple, Richard and Rachel who are in their 40’s are in the throes of infertility. The movie takes a very real look into IVF, adoption and egg donation.

 

 

 

The Storyteller   Jen is adopted by Maggie and her husband after spending time in foster care. After Maggie’s husband dies and Abby joins the family, Jen and Maggie’s relationship becomes tumultuous. This movie is a testament to the true meaning of family and belonging.

 

 

Adoption at the Movies is a fantastic resource to find information and reviews on all adoption theme movies, new and old.

Adoption Theme Books of 2018

Adoptive Families put together this wonderfully comprehensive list of 21 Noteworthy Adoption Books Published in 2018. Books are a great way to explore complicated topics with children at an age appropriate level. It can also be extremely valuable for individuals involved in the adoption process to gain an understanding from other perspectives. A book written by a birth mother would be an important read for prospective adoptive parents to gain perspective and empathy. So make some time in your busy day to curl up with a good book from this list.

There are the three P’s of success, the three P’s of business, but have you heard of the three P’s of adoption? We have put together a list of three P’s necessary to have a successful adoption journey regardless the outcome. Our three P’s of adoption are profile, patience and peace. Everlasting Adoption’s Founder, Director and adoptive mother herself, Carol weighs in on our third P, peace, which was extremely important to her during her own adoption journey.

Profile
If you are at all familiar with adoption, you know how important a profile is to marketing yourself to birth mothers. In a process that is largely outside of your control, an adoption profile is one of the few aspects you can dictate. Whether you create your own or hire someone to make a profile for you, make sure you have put sufficient thought and effort into its creation. Our article on 5 Tips to Create a Stand Out Adoption Profile is a great place to start to gather tips on making the best profile possible. This is the very first impression you make on birth mothers, so it is important to use eye catching, professional looking photos and informative, concise and descriptive text.

Patience
This P is certainly easier said than done. Such a stressful and emotional process doesn’t really make it easy to be patient. The not knowing and waiting can be excruciating. According to Adoption Center it can take between 2 and 7 years to adopt a healthy infant. With numbers like that, patience is key to making it through the process in one piece.

One way to help maintain patience is to recruit your spouse, friend or family member to be the voice of reason. When they see you overly fraught with worry or stress, it is their job to help you relax. However they choose to do this is up to them. It is always helpful to have someone on the outside keep an eye on things that we are unable to see ourselves. Another way to help exercise patience is to keep busy. Immerse yourself in things you enjoy; yoga, reading, home decorating. Whatever your thing is, spending your time in these activities instead of obsessing over getting “the call” will help you find peace, which is our third P.

Peace
With the Christmas holiday fast approaching, the word “peace” is often used. How does peace relate to adoption? Our founder, Carol had some valuable insight on the importance of finding peace during the process and a special message to all waiting families.

“As I went through the adoption journey with my husband, the most significant thing I learned was that you must make peace with yourself, as you are right now, even if you do not reach your dream of adopting. I went through 12 years of infertility my choice and 2 failed adoptions before our miracle came to us!

Adoption comes with many challenges and can sometimes be an emotional roller coaster ride. You cannot start to travel down this road without making peace with your life as it currently is. If you are unsettled and feeling you can’t go on without a child or another child to fulfill your life, the road will be full of bumps, setbacks and disappointments. If I only knew back then to work hard at starting out with a peaceful mindset, one that has no expectations, our journey would have been a lot smoother; a lot more peaceful.

My best advice to anyone considering or going through the adoption journey right now, is to make a sound decision to be peaceful no matter what the outcome. If it doesn’t happen, then believe, with all your heart, that it wasn’t meant to be. It may be cliché, but it has proven time and again to be so true. If you do adopt successfully, then peace will still be with you because it was there from the get-go.

Adoption and the entire process truly makes you see the world through different eyes. It is amazingly divine. May this holiday season bring you amazingly, divine PEACE.”

Thank you to our past Everlasting families for sharing their Halloween photos with us. We may be biased, but these trick-or-treaters are the cutest we’ve ever seen!

If you were asked to define “family”, how would you answer? A mom, dad and their children? Two dads or two moms? A single mom? According to a 2016 United States Census Bureau report, 31% of American families do not consist of the “traditional” two parent household. Of those nontraditional households, 23% are children living with a single mother. Even though the demographic is relatively small, according to data obtained from The Williams Institute, roughly 1.4% of two parent households were made up of same sex couples, in 2016.

Simply put, many children biological or otherwise are raised in what would be considered nontraditional family structures.

More and more children are being adopted into these nontraditional households. Thirty years ago, adoption outside of an opposite sex, married couple household was almost unheard of. Today, because of great strides made in civil rights and gender equality, our ideas on who can and should adopt have dramatically changed. Some interesting statistics collected by the writers at Good Housekeeping may surprise you.

• 40% of adopted children are of a different race, culture, or ethnicity than one or both their adoptive parents.
• Of same-sex couples raising children, 19% have at least one adopted child.
• It is estimated that approximately 25% of special needs adoption and 5% of total adoptions are attributed to single parents.
• Single parent and same sex adoption are legal in all 50 states.

At Everlasting Adoptions, we believe a family is defined by LOVE and have successfully placed many single parent, same sex and multiracial families. In fact, 31% of our placements in the last 18 months have been with single mothers and same sex couples!

Happy Father’s Day to all the men who are role models and have had a positive impact on the life of a child. We appreciate you and all you do!

Happy Mother’s Day from Everlasting Adoptions! Whether you’ve been blessed to become a mother biologically, through adootion or if you are still waiting for your Mother’s Day; you are stronger than you will ever know. No matter what path your journey takes, there are challenges along the way. Make today a day to celebrate you, your perseverance and all the love you have in your heart even if your journey to motherhood is not yet complete.