Along this red thread to China, we have been so fortunate to meet so many great people who have encouraged us and have shared their adoption stories - either through Melanie's Adoption Support Group or through the Waiting Families at CCAI such as ourselves. Here are a couple of inspiration stories from those that we've met along the way:My name is Ashley, my husband is Jason and we have our 3 year old son, Skyler, who was adopted from Korea, and our 2 year old daughter, Bryn, who was our surprise bio-baby. Our journey to Skyler was THE most incredible experience of my life! It was a long hard road to get there but I know now that it was because he was meant to be ours:
After 4 years of marriage, we were diagnosed as infertile and were told that we would “never have a child naturally.” This began our short experience of fertility treatments before we realized that was definitely not what we wanted. What we really wanted was to adopt.
We researched many countries and interviewed several agencies before finding our agency, AAC, in Berthoud, Colorado. I found them by calling every agency in the phone book. I had recently been crushed after finding out we couldn’t adopt from China because I wasn’t 30. I had my heart set on a little girl from China. So when I called AAC, they told me about Korea, a country I had never even considered. All of the answers fit what we were looking for! We had gone through frustrations of agencies giving vague answers. It felt like a perfect match! We were told that the wait for a boy would be much quicker so a boy it WAS! We requested the info packet be overnighted and I had it the next day, filled it out in one night and overnighted it back to the agency! I wasn’t going to waste a single day! We were put on the waiting list at #15 and we started our home study and more paper work collecting.
We had already named him Skyler years before we knew were adopting. We had named him Skyler while on a ski run in Beaver Creek and now we call that run, “Skyler’s Run”. I called the agency every two weeks to see if we had moved up the list and usually we had. I lived and breathed for every other Friday to hear our number. I spent a lot of my time learning all I could about Korean culture and history. On September 20, 2002, we got THE CALL! Our son, Joon Shik, was two months old and waiting for us in a foster home in Seoul, South Korea. Joon Shik means “big knowledge” which we thought was perfect because Skyler means “scholar.” Once again, it was meant to be! We got an email with his picture and a picture of his foster mother holding him. We also received his story with details his birth mother chose to give, plus his medical history and his journey from birth to Eastern Social Welfare Society Baby Home and then to his foster home. We were in love! He was SO precious! I took his photo and blew it up as large as I could without it being too fuzzy and I carried it around with me for 10 weeks until he was in my arms. I was a little crazy. The week of Thanksgiving, we got a call from the agency that they had video and recent pictures of him. Once again, I couldn’t wait for overnight mail. My husband and I drove 5 hours round trip to Berthoud to get his pictures and, boy, was it worth it! He was the most beautiful boy I had ever seen! I watched his video over and over and over….. Did I mention that I was little crazy?
The day after Thanksgiving, we got THE CALL! Skyler was coming home on December 3!!!!!! Needless to say, the next few days, I really lost my mind. My husband found me lying on the floor of his nursery staring at the ceiling! Time could not pass quickly enough for me. Skyler was being escorted from Korea. Korea is one of the few countries that escort babies. People coming to the US volunteer to escort babies at Eastern Social Welfare Society. A volunteer, whom we will never know, flew Skyler from Seoul to LA, where he switched airlines, and an airline attendant flew him home to DIA. It was pretty scary for me but babies come home that way every single week, all over the US, and they have been doing it that way since the 50’s.
Our family and friends gathered at DIA to welcome Skyler Joon Shik home on December 3, 2002 at 3:30 pm. I was so nervous, I was afraid I would drop him. He was the softest, sweetest, baby in the world. My heart was full! He was 4 months old. Tears are streaming down my face as I type this but I can’t control it. I love my son SO much! My experience adopting Skyler was so special and I will treasure that experience forever.
After 4 years of marriage, we were diagnosed as infertile and were told that we would “never have a child naturally.” This began our short experience of fertility treatments before we realized that was definitely not what we wanted. What we really wanted was to adopt.
We researched many countries and interviewed several agencies before finding our agency, AAC, in Berthoud, Colorado. I found them by calling every agency in the phone book. I had recently been crushed after finding out we couldn’t adopt from China because I wasn’t 30. I had my heart set on a little girl from China. So when I called AAC, they told me about Korea, a country I had never even considered. All of the answers fit what we were looking for! We had gone through frustrations of agencies giving vague answers. It felt like a perfect match! We were told that the wait for a boy would be much quicker so a boy it WAS! We requested the info packet be overnighted and I had it the next day, filled it out in one night and overnighted it back to the agency! I wasn’t going to waste a single day! We were put on the waiting list at #15 and we started our home study and more paper work collecting.
We had already named him Skyler years before we knew were adopting. We had named him Skyler while on a ski run in Beaver Creek and now we call that run, “Skyler’s Run”. I called the agency every two weeks to see if we had moved up the list and usually we had. I lived and breathed for every other Friday to hear our number. I spent a lot of my time learning all I could about Korean culture and history. On September 20, 2002, we got THE CALL! Our son, Joon Shik, was two months old and waiting for us in a foster home in Seoul, South Korea. Joon Shik means “big knowledge” which we thought was perfect because Skyler means “scholar.” Once again, it was meant to be! We got an email with his picture and a picture of his foster mother holding him. We also received his story with details his birth mother chose to give, plus his medical history and his journey from birth to Eastern Social Welfare Society Baby Home and then to his foster home. We were in love! He was SO precious! I took his photo and blew it up as large as I could without it being too fuzzy and I carried it around with me for 10 weeks until he was in my arms. I was a little crazy. The week of Thanksgiving, we got a call from the agency that they had video and recent pictures of him. Once again, I couldn’t wait for overnight mail. My husband and I drove 5 hours round trip to Berthoud to get his pictures and, boy, was it worth it! He was the most beautiful boy I had ever seen! I watched his video over and over and over….. Did I mention that I was little crazy?
The day after Thanksgiving, we got THE CALL! Skyler was coming home on December 3!!!!!! Needless to say, the next few days, I really lost my mind. My husband found me lying on the floor of his nursery staring at the ceiling! Time could not pass quickly enough for me. Skyler was being escorted from Korea. Korea is one of the few countries that escort babies. People coming to the US volunteer to escort babies at Eastern Social Welfare Society. A volunteer, whom we will never know, flew Skyler from Seoul to LA, where he switched airlines, and an airline attendant flew him home to DIA. It was pretty scary for me but babies come home that way every single week, all over the US, and they have been doing it that way since the 50’s.
Our family and friends gathered at DIA to welcome Skyler Joon Shik home on December 3, 2002 at 3:30 pm. I was so nervous, I was afraid I would drop him. He was the softest, sweetest, baby in the world. My heart was full! He was 4 months old. Tears are streaming down my face as I type this but I can’t control it. I love my son SO much! My experience adopting Skyler was so special and I will treasure that experience forever.
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