Maria is a toddler with Down syndrome, she was adopted by Sarah and Jeremy. Before deciding to adopt, they had four sons. Their four boys absolutely love Maria. She is a blessing in their lives and they encourage others to adopt if they can.

Turning Fear of Adoption into Faith

Choosing Down Syndrome

It took Sarah and Jeremy many years to decide it was the right time to bring Maria into their family. She is from Yerevan Armenia. They had always wanted the opportunity to adopt, but family circumstances always seemed to get in the way. However, they finally decided it was something they needed to do.

Their oldest son had open heart surgery when he was a baby, heart conditions are something that is particularly tender to them and they wanted to help another person with that same problem. Upon doing research they discovered that heart conditions are common in children with Down syndrome.

“That’s your Daughter, Go Get Her”

Sarah and Jeremy would look up listings of children eligible for adoption, Sarah had this to say about the first time she saw Maria, “I had seen these faces before over the years and they are always just so cute and you want to adopt them all.  Bit something was very different when I saw Maria’s face, and it was as if God told me, ‘That’s your daughter, go get her.’”

Jeremy also mentioned, “Sarah walked in and showed me the picture and I said ‘yeah lets do it.’…I was just excited.”

The Adoption Process

Adopting a child can be very time consuming and tedious.  Sarah explained, “The process go very long and very challenging…you have to sign up for classes and take certification courses.  We just took it one step at a time, which is all we could do.”

She then continued by saying, “Knowing your daughter is in an orphanage overseas and she’s not with her family is hard.  We just did everything in our power to push things as fast as we could on our side. When you’re sending things off and waiting, you just have to hope that other people getting it are going to process it and get it through quickly.”

Finances Involved in Adoption

How much money is this going to cost? How are we going to pay for this?  These are some common questions people ask when they think about adoption.  Jeremy had this to say about it, “We just looked at our finances, and we re-financed our house, we did some fundraisers as well as some auctions on Facebook. Social media is a great way to raise money when you have that goal and you have that child that’s waiting for you.”

Sarah later added, “These children are worth any cost it takes to get them into your home.”

Room for One More

When recalling the impact Maria has had on their family Sarah had this to say, “It’s really life changing and it has changed our family for the better.  I love that our boys had this experience..being able to see them alongside her and love her and help her”

“The first time I saw her, I felt like she was already our daughter.  She integrated in with her brothers without missing a beat, it was just a rather joyous occasion..I can tell you from the personal experience that I’ve had..that this is a wonderful way to grow your family.” Jeremy said.

“Take that Leap of Faith”

Jeremy had some wonderful pieces of advice to other men contemplating adoption, he said “It’s important to be a dad in this world to our own biological kids and also to kids that aren’t as fortunate enough to grow up in their family.  For men we are on the fence and who maybe are not feeling that emotional draw to do it, I would just tell them to take that leap of faith and you won’t be sorry that you did.” 

“As men we have a responsibility to be protectors and providers.  I really believe that all of the children out there that don’t have men in their life, we have a great opportunity to be that somebody.”