November is National Adoption Month! Take a look at what the Spring family, who recently adopted two boys, had to say!
“Hello, we are the Spring Family. We have three children. Our 14-year-old biological son and the three-year-old twins who we officially adopted on October 5, 2023. We have been married for 15 years and this was our first foster placement. I have worked in the social services field for years and have always wanted to open our home to children. My husband, David, and his family have a history of adoption.
Dave learned so much throughout this process and states that he ‘learned more than he expected.’ We made it a point to involve Calvin (our biological son) who was around 10 years old at the time. We wanted to make sure he understood the process and provided him opportunities to give input.
Lots of things surprised us when we first started this journey! When Aiden and Ezra came home to us, they were leaving the NICU where they had spent the first three months of their lives due to being born prematurely. It was scary being the caretakers of such fragile infants. The extent of the continued support that was available from New Directions was a welcomed surprise.
The most challenging part of fostering and adoption for us was the emotional attachment, the fear of losing the children, and the very slow family court/CPS process. Their smiles always helped us get through those tough times. The best parts of fostering and adoption are the opportunities for growth. We have grown as partners, as a family, as parents, and as people.
We have made it a point to include the twins’ biological family and are very proud of that. Although the twins’ father was not identified, we have connected with their maternal bio family. We spend birthdays, holidays, and have even gone on vacation together. The twins will always know where they came from.
Our advice for anyone who might be interested in fostering or adopting is to be honest with yourself, be honest with the staff, and don’t force anything. Do not hesitate to advocate for the child(ren) or yourself.
Three words we would use to describe the experience that we had with the Foster Care and Adoption Team at New Directions would be: supportive, growth, and humbling. This has been the greatest experience. We wish we had done the classes sooner!”
