“Having somewhere to go is home. Having someone to love is family. Having both is a blessing.” This quote is from an unknown source, but it spills out so much truth. 

The unfortunate truth is that not every child is born with a family and the sad reality is that some are born into families that don’t give them the life they deserve. The beautiful thing about adoption is that it brings broken situations and restores them. Kids who were abandoned are given a home and kids are brought into families who give them a better life than they had. 

Recently in some states there has been a shortage of foster and adoptive parents, leaving group homes crowded and tons of kids without families. Adoption is so important because it gives kids the life and opportunity they deserve and need to thrive throughout life. 

Some kids will spend their whole life in a group home and constantly be tossed around, giving them the idea that they are unwanted and not loved. No child should be raised in such a way. 

This is where adoption comes in, something that should be more prevalent and talked about more in our society. The opportunity to give kids a better life, which impacts them forever but it also leaves a lasting impact on the parents. 

Parents are able to provide a home and loving family for kids who don’t have one but the kids also pour into the parents. In a lot of situations the kids impact the parents just as much as the parents impacted the kids, which we don’t always realize. 

The importance of adoption can be hard to recognize if you haven’t seen it first hand but it is absolutely beautiful to see how families are formed instantly, and there is so much love in such a short amount of time. 

Families who adopt or even foster are making an impact that lasts a lifetime. The amount of kids without families is concerning and sad, so we have to do our part in helping. One of the beautiful things about adoption is that kids are shown that they are worthy of love and care when they are raised in a situation that shows them the opposite. 

A husband and wife decided to start their journey into adoption many years ago. They would like to stay anonymous but still want to share their story. They have now adopted two girls and have such an inspiring story. When they first started their journey into foster and adoption they experienced many challenges and heartbreak with fostering many different kids who were fortunately able to return to their biological parents. 

“It was definitely one of the hardest things I’ve ever experienced, the heartbreak was something I learned to deal with but each kid that entered my home will always have a special place in my heart,” the mother said. 

After many heartbreaks and struggles with foster care, they were able to foster two twin girls who they eventually adopted and are in high school now. Both parents have learned so much through this experience and wouldn’t do it any other way. 

“Adopting them was the best thing we have ever done in our lives,” the father said. “It made me realize there was a type of love out there that I didn’t know existed, the father-daughter type of love.”

This couple has been able to forever influence their daughters life and make sure they were given all the things they needed. The girls were also able to teach them the joys of being a parent, something they had always dreamed of. 

Through adoption, light is brought into some dark situations and kids are brought into homes where they are loved, cared for and shown that they matter. No matter the situation, foster and adoption is a beautiful system where families are made instantly and there’s an opportunity for something really beautiful to sprout. 

Another beautiful story is Lindsey and Miguel Castro, a couple who fostered and adopted two young boys, Michael and Andrew. This couple experienced their own struggles through fostering and adopting but wouldn’t change any of it. The boys have experienced some hard things growing up but Lindsey and Miguel have given them a family, a safe haven and so much love. And Michael and Andrew have shown this couple what it means to be parents and that is something that is just so valuable and precious. Nothing compares. 

Miguel said their goal as parents is to give these kids the “best, most amazing, loving, life possible,” no matter the things that happened before they were brought into their home. This story shows how beautiful adoption is because nothing else matters besides the fact that these boys are their kids and they are a family. 

Michael and Andrew have brought so much joy and happiness to this couple, they made them parents and taught them the true meaning of family. As a mom, Lindsey would say her greatest joy of being a parent is “when they’re really happy, seeing just pure joy, the random hugs and ‘I love yous’ knowing that they don’t wanna be anywhere else.” 

Miguel would say his greatest joy of being a parent is “things I had thought of years ago, thinking it’d be cool to coach a baseball team or make dinosaur sounds” and now he is experiencing these things with his boys, living out the dream. 

Both of these stories show the beautiful impact that fostering and adopting has on both kids, parents and anyone who sees the beauty in these families. It brings so much happiness into sad situations, no matter what happened in the past, adoption allows the parents and kids to move forward and start a family together. 

It’s easy to see the brokenness and trauma in kids who are or have been in the system but they are all just normal kids. They deserve to be loved and are so precious. All kids have the ability to leave an impact without even knowing it. So don’t just see kids for what they have been through and the struggles they’ve endured, see them as normal kids who are worth so much and have a light inside them that shines for all. 

Adoption gives parents the ability to impact the lives of kids and it gives kids the ability to impact the lives of every home they enter, no matter their story. Fostering and adoption is unique and different for everyone but is so beautiful because of the impact it makes and the stories it tells.