Erin and Tony's Adoption Story:
In Erin and Tony's Words:
"4 years ago I couldn’t fathom what God had in store for our family. 4 years ago is when we decided to start trying for baby #2. Infertility was unfortunately part of our story. We struggled to conceive with our oldest daughter Charlie but by the grace of God we were able to conceive her naturally. We figured the journey would be long for the next...what we didn’t realize is how our infertility led to a place of surrender, unwavering trust, deeper connection to God and eventually adoption! During the waiting years I felt His nudges about adoption and I heard His no about pursuing infertility treatment, but our hearts needed time to mourn the fact that natural conception wouldn’t happen. Once we took that step in faith to fully pursue adoption, we never looked back! As soon as we said yes to the journey, a peace that only comes from Him followed.
We set up a call with Fallon through CAC and knew after that first chat on the phone this was who we wanted to work with. We quickly sign on and started the home study process in August of 2020 and moved at a rapid speed to get everything in and we were approved to adopt by October 2020. Fallon created our beautiful profile book and we got them sent off to agencies. Tony and I decided that we wanted to do a newborn/baby adoption....However, God had a different plan.
We got registered with a few agencies and we were especially drawn to one in Utah. We had our conference call with them and had gathered that it would likely be awhile before we were presented any expecting mom's stories. In the meantime, cases started to come in from other agencies and as the holidays approached we were told that it would likely be pretty quiet until after the new year.
The week after Thanksgiving we received a case from the UT agency for a 2.5 year old girl. The case came in while Tony was at work, so we didn’t have an opportunity to review it together. Upon reading it, I was so incredibly drawn to the little girl I was reading about, it was such a different feeling than the prior stories we had read. I couldn’t shake it. I shared her picture with Charlie and she said, “I would love to be her big sister.” I tried not to get overly excited because I remember Tony saying that he was only interested in adopting a baby. So I said a prayer and asked God to make it so clear if this child was meant for our family, and that His will be done. Tony got home from work and he had already reviewed this little girls story. When I asked him what he thought, he said the moment he saw her picture he knew that was our baby girl! I burst into tears that we had the same feelings for this precious little girl. We let the agency know that we would be honored to be one of the families considered. This incredible mom reviewed profiles the following morning and that afternoon we got a call that she wanted to have a conference call with us. My armpits never sweat so much in my life!!! We again, prayed and again surrendered the outcome over to the Lord, His will, not ours. On that call she told us that she wanted us to raise and love her little girl. She said that is was so clear that we were meant to be Daylee’s forever parents! She said the energy she felt while reading our profile book was indescribable and that she just knew we were who was meant to be Daylee’s mom and dad, and that she’d never been so sure about anything in her life. We learned that she had been on the hunt for the right family since shortly after Daylee was born, but she never felt right about any of the situations up unil this point. Our hearts were broken for her, we mourned with her, and knew we would keep our promise to have our hearts and lives open to her forever. Nothing can prepare you for being in a moment when another woman is trusting you with her most precious life...completing humbling, earth shattering, and heart changing in every way.
We had the weekend to prepare the room and grab essentials, then we hopped on a plane the following Monday to go meet our baby girl, and were back home as a family of 4 before Christmas! There were so many amazing confirmations along the way that Daylee was meant to be part of our family and that in the brokenness of adoption we would honor her mom and story! We learned during our conference call that Daylee’s middle names are Anthony Kay which happen to be family names! Tony’s formal name is Anthony and Kay is my mother-in-laws middle name! It was always our plan to give our child a family name, and it just felt like a spacial moment. It’s been such an honor and a blessing to see how many lives were and continue to be touched by our adoption story. A great reminder of how God’s plan for us is always so much better than our own. A friend said it best, when it’s God’s will it blesses everyone! We now have been a family of 4 for 2 months and we can’t imagine life without our sweet Daylee. Thank you God for this incredible journey. Proverbs 3:5-6 "
It was such an incredible experience working with Fallon and CAC. I can now say from first hand experience that this organization is personable, believes in ethical adoption of the entire triad, and strives to make sure adoptive families are supported in such an unknown journey. From the many phone calls, the excitement Fallon shared with us, the support she happily gave, and the prayers along the way were so valuable.
***If you are interested in learning more about adoption and services we provide at Christian Adoption Consultants, I would love to chat! Feel free to email me, Fallon Palacios, at Fallon@christianadoptionconsultant.com and check out www.christianadoptionconsultants.com for more information!! ***
