We have been approved for adoption!!!

For those of you who aren't aware, we have never felt like our family was finished growing. Unfortunately, due to medical reasons, we stopped at two children. We have been approved by the LDS Family Services to adopt through their agency and wanted to share that information with you. Since you are reading our blog, you are probably interested in our happenings, so we wanted to share with you some informaton and things you can do to help us (if you feel so inclined. Below is an excerpt from a letter we recently sent out:
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As many of you know, our family was recently approved for adoption. We are so excited to be taking this step. Adoption is something that we have considered at various stages in our marriage, and we know that this is the right path for our family.

Many of you have asked us what the next step in the process is, so we would like to briefly explain how the process works. We are adopting through LDS Family Services, an adoption agency affiliated with our church. Their services are available to any couple wishing to adopt and to any birth parent, whether they are members of our church or not. To learn more about LDS Family Services, you can visit the website – www.itsaboutlove.org.

On this website, birth mothers considering placing their child for adoption can search through family profiles to find the family that they would like for their child to go to. The opportunity of choosing a family for their child is given to the birth parents. This means that, in a way, we are simply waiting for a birth mother to choose us!

However, families hoping to adopt are encouraged to be proactive about finding the child that is meant to join their family. Often through the network of family and friends couples are able to meet birth parents who have decided to place their child for adoption. We believe that the Lord often puts people in one another’s path for a reason. It is possible that through mutual friends and family, we could be introduced to the birth mom who is bringing our child into this world.
We would like to ask for you help in three ways:

1. Please pray for us. Pray that we will be directed to the child that is to come to our home. Pray for the birth family of that child, that they will be comforted at what is surely a very frightening and difficult time and that they will be guided to make the best choices for their child.

2. Remember us. If you hear of someone who is considering placing a child for adoption, tell them about our family.

3. Read our monthly adoption blog posts. It is our goal to post a monthly blog letting you know the status of our adoption, telling you more about our family and sharing information about adoption in general. We have come to recognize what a blessing adoption can be, not only in the lives of families like us who want to have children but aren’t able, but also in the lives of birth families who need a second chance.

Feel free to contact us, or to give our contact information to a potential birth parent.

• Our family profile: https://www.itsaboutlove.org/ial/profiles/22783800/ourMessage.jsf

• Our family blog: http://matisfamily.blogspot.com

• Our adoption email address: matisfam@att.net

Thank you so much to all of you for your support and friendship. We are so blessed to have such a strong network of family and friends and believe that a child would be blessed to be a part of our family, not just because of the love that we have to offer, but because of the amazing people who are a part of our lives!