“David and I joke that we never do anything the easy way. God is often giving us opportunities to grow! Thus, when we started thinking about adoption, we expected it to be difficult. We were nervous and it honestly felt like an invasive process. At our first adoption meeting we went to, we left crying, feeling overwhelmed.

After about a year, we finally gathered the courage to go to another agency’s intro meeting and God transformed our fears into peace. It was clear that this was the path for our family. And, to our surprise, nothing in our few short years together has ever gone so smoothly!

We started the process in April 2016 and were matched with Haylee’s birth family in June. We met them face to face in August and hit it off. We relaxed as we all realized we were feeling the same way: nervous, excited and praying to make a good impression!

In September, our beautiful Haylee Kay was born. As soon as we saw her, I just started weeping. We could not believe she was ours. We were blessed to be in the room for her birth and be the first to hold her and feed her. She is a sweet, easy going girl and she brings so much joy to our lives.

But, Haylee was not the only gift we received. By her birth, our entire family grew. Haylee’s birth family (parents, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandma, etc.) welcomed us into their lives, celebrated with us, and love Haylee deeply. We look forward to our relationship growing with them in the years to come.

We know every adoption story is different and feel so blessed by the way ours was written. We pray that our story brings hope to others looking into adopting!” Janet, Mother

HANNAH MANN PHOTOGRAPHY | Canon 5D mkiii, Sigma 35mm 1.4 art, Sigma 50mm 1.4