A Father's Love, Jasmine's story. part 2 in the fascinating story of one couple's quest for a child to call their own.

My wife and I are both in our 50's. We live in the Daytona Beach area. We attempted to adopt a child that I met in Quito, Ecuador while I was on a missions trip there. After two years and exhausting all of our savings, it fell through in Ecuador. Third-world countries can be extremely difficult to work with at times. To read that story, click on this link: A Father's Love, Mitzi's story.

With our hearts broken and our savings gone, we decided to become foster-to-adopt parents. We were told that the children placed in our home would be the ones that were most likely to become available for adoption. That has not been the case. We have had two foster children so far.

Our second child we got in February, and we had been working with the bio mom through the entire process and Sept 22 was their reunification. We are all happy to see their reunion. We have a good relationship with her and she comes over with the child to visit us.



Our first child came as a 7 pound newborn in November of 2005 and she has been the joy of our lives. Every morning I would lay her next to me on the bed and pray over her, sing to her and play with her. It was a real treasure watching her grow up. The bond between us has grown so strong that when I look at her the love and joy I feel inside makes my heart feel as if it about to burst. When I come in from being away even for a short time, she is so excited to see me come in the door. It is worth all the heartache and trials we had to go through to get this far.

The case manager said there was no one in her family that could pass a home study to get her. However, in April they started an ICPC on her grandmother in Texas. The authorities refuse to allow us to have any contact with the grandmother, with the threat of losing our foster care license and the child if we initiate contact on our own. They told us she was reluctant at first, so maybe they think we'll be able to convince her to let us keep the child. They have made it clear that the only case plan they have for Jasmine is placement with her grandmother.

We just found out that the grandmother's home study has been approved. CBC still refuses to give us her contact information so I am going to search to find her.

I found her in an internet search. She just called us and did not even know that her home study had been approved yet. We emailed her pictures of the baby and she is overjoyed to get them. The court date has been set for custody to transition to her.

August 24, 2006 We petitioned the court to allow us to take Jasmine to Texas ourselves and it was granted. They were going to have a case worker take her there, but we love her so much that we can't just stand by an see her hurt any more than absolutely necessary. We will stay there several days to allow her to begin to bond with her grandparents before we leave her there with them.

Sept 28, 2006 - We just returned from Texas. We left our treasure there with her new family. As it turned out the grandmother would have been willing for us to do an open adoption if she had only known that was our desire. She didn't want another child at first and would have let us adopt, but after going through all that she had to do to get her home study done and approved, she was not willing to give her up. So, after 10 months of having this beautiful, happy child as our own, we had to give her away. It is the hardest thing I've had to do in my entire life. It feels as if my heart has been ripped from me.

Now we are back where we started, with our hearts broken again. After nearly five years of trying to adopt, we still have not been successful. I know there is a child out there for us. Gid would not have placed this desire in our hearts only to have our hopes dashed like this.

Our family worker from CHS visited us today and told us we were exremely fortunate to have gotten a newborn and to have been able to keep her for so long. She said it was so rare that we should not get our hopes up for another one.

Sunday, October 29, 2006 - Yesterday was an awful day for me. I think it has taken a month for it to finally sink in that Jasmine is never coming back to us. We were there for her when she needed us and we gave her a very good, healthy start in life, but now she has her family. They have graciously agreed to allow us to continue to be a part of her life, but still, I have been in a state of grief and depression since she left. I know this kind of grief can destroy people, so I have prayed and asked God to help me let her go. I know I'll never stop loving her, but I had to come to grips with the fact that she is no longer ours. As I prayed, something from deep within my cried out to God and I said, "Father, I know it was You who put this desire in our hearts to adopt. We have done everything we know to do, but everything has failed. I cannot go on like this. I know You have a child that You have prepared just for us, so I want You to give her to us today."

CHS called us right after church this afternoon and said they have a 2 1/2-year-old girl for us to foster. She is adorable, but we don't think she is the one God has for us. She will be most likely returning to her family in a few months. They just need to get some things straightened out first. Then CHS called us again about 2 hours later and said they have a three-day-old newborn just coming out of the hospital that needs emergency shelter. We leapt at the chance. I knew this was the one. She is absolutely beautiful.

Monday, October 30, 2006 - I went to the baby's shelter hearing and met with her family. Her aunt is going to try to get custody of her, but has some issues that might prevent it. She is the only one who is even trying to get her. The baby's mother and uncle were both raised in foster care and had some very bad experiences. They are very upset that this child is also now in foster care. We assured them that we are not going to abuse her and that she will stay in our home as long as she is in the foster care system. We also told them that if she becomes available for adoption we are going to adopt her. They were comforted by that.

Friday, November 3, 2006 - The aunt just called and said that she is not going to go through with trying to get custody. They want us to raise the child.

Thursday, April 19, 2007 - Our 2 1/2 year-old little girl went back to her family today. It was very suddenly, with no transition at all. We are keeping a spot open for her, because we think she will be back.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007 - It's been a while since I updated, but today is my birthday and I just received the most wonderful birthday present of all time. Abigail Elizabeth became ours today. We are so grateful to God for His awesome gift.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007 - What a shocker; we just got our second child back again. Her mother had her for 8 months but went back to her old ways as soon as she was off court supervision. This time we will keep our distance, since we do not think the court will be going for reunification this time. She has a large family in another state, so we're sure one of them will get her. We're just glad we were here for her to come back to. It makes it a lot easier on her.

Monday, October 29, 2007 - Today is the anniversary of the day we got our Abigail and our third child. the 2 1/2 year-old, and we just got her back also. She is three now. They say this time they are going for TPR / Adoption. She's really been through a tough time and we hope we can help her recover from all the abuse and trauma she's suffered. We're ready to adopt her if it's what God has for us.


For God's Kids
3300 S. Nova Rd.
Unit 28
Port Orange, FL 32129