The Best Decision Ever Made
Mary and her husband became Pathway Foster Parents in 2018 and it has been “The best decision ever made.” Mary shared her family’s foster care and adoption journey.
I knew extremely young that my life goal was to be a mom. After the emotional turmoil of struggling with infertility and strong calling to be parents, we were invited to an information night at church that was hosted by another Pathway foster parent. After a very short discussion following the meeting-we knew we wanted to take this chance. We knew we were interested in becoming licensed Foster-to Adopt and figured at worst we’d have the chance to positively impact the lives of families and children in Foster Care. Our Pathway worker guided us through the process of getting our training requirements and licensing our home.
Within two weeks of having our license we received a call to take placement of a 9-month-old baby girl (our daughter) who had been hospitalized with some serious injuries and was in need of our care. When we went to the hospital to meet her, I was so scared and filled with doubt. I could hear her crying loudly from down the hall, I had no problem finding her room thanks to this! When we went to her crib I started tearing up, she was the most beautiful person I had ever seen. I asked the nurse if I could hold her and she immediately stopped crying, resting on my chest and falling quickly to sleep. Talk about love at first sight. Just after my daughter’s 3rd birthday we were selected to be her permanent family and in March of 2021 we celebrated our “Family Ever After” day with our princess.
Shortly after our daughter was placed in our home, we received a call about an 18-month-old boy who was in need of care. We said yes and experienced the other side of foster care. The side of reunification.
We were able to come beside Mom and work closely to help motivate her to overcome obstacles and help get her son back home to her. During those years I learned a lot about empathy and working to foster the family as well as the child. As hard and fully loving a child and letting them go can be, there’s so much beauty in the ability to do that for someone. I’m grateful for the opportunity to still know this family and continue to nurture whenever possible.
My youngest son came into care at 6 months old, actually starting his journey being placed in my own mother’s home for a while. When discussions of permanent custody came up, the decision was made to bring him into our home as we were very willing to provide a permanent option for him if needed. He and I were already bonded. Just prior to my son’s 4th birthday, we were able to adopt him and my mother gets to maintain her bond in a grandmother role. He is my wild child, strong-willed and determined to have the last word, but underneath all that, he’s a snuggle bug and a total Mommy’s boy.
Our middle son and most recently adopted child came into our lives shortly after our foster son reunified. He was two years old and we were his third foster home. His silly personality was easy to fall in love with and after a while he was bonded with our other children. I noticed quickly that he was experiencing some developmental delays and required early intervention. We worked closely with Bright Beginnings and then the local school district to help give him the tools to help overcome some of these barriers. He has made so much progress and is a total joy in our lives!
Choosing to grow our family through Adoption was the very best decision we could have ever made! Going into this journey, I never would have guessed that we would be blessed with three wonderful, permanent members to our family in just 5 years of fostering. Pathway has been incredible on our journey and we are looking forward to what the future may have in store for us.
Are you ready for the best decision ever made? The first step to becoming a foster-to-adopt parent is to contact our Recruitment Department. We are here to answer ALL your questions! Call 330-818-0444 or email shenry@pathwaycfc.org TODAY! Learn more HERE: https://www.pathwaycfc.org/foster-care/