We are finishing National Adoption Month with this great interview about Foster Care! Meaghan Nally from Nightlight Christian Adoptions and Shelly Radic from Project 1.27 discuss the extreme need for foster families across the USA, and the sense of urgency in Colorado in particular. Meaghan breaks down exactly how the process works and what it is that they look for in a family. Shelly is President of Project 1.27 and has been a foster parent, adopted through foster care, and has a brother who wa...
Nov 29, 2017•38 min•Season 2Ep. 18
If you were with us last week, you heard Katie and Scott’s story about being embryo donors. Today we have a story about an adoptive family that has 3 beautiful children, 2 from traditional adoption and one through embryo adoption. Charis and her husband battled for years with infertility, and tried everything including IVF, IUI and countless tests and diagnostic procedures to find out the cause of their struggles. After realizing that this was not the way they were going to grow their family, th...
Nov 22, 2017•36 min•Season 2Ep. 17
We are SO excited to be featuring our first embryo adoption donor family story today on the podcast! Katie and Scott were a bit older when they decided that they wanted children, and after researching both fostering and adoption, they were heartbroken and discouraged. After a fateful lunch with a good friend, the idea of surrogacy and IVF was planted, and ultimately proved to be the correct path for them. They ended up being blessed with a set of twins, but also had another set of embryos which ...
Nov 15, 2017•39 min•Season 2Ep. 16
We often hear the stories of adoptees, birth mothers, and adoptive parents on this podcast, but it is very rare to find ALL THREE in one person! Today’s guest Kitty however, has experienced the triad of adoption and today she walks us through the struggles, heartbreak, and happiness she has felt in each of the roles. Kitty Ravert was adopted as a baby into a loving home, she placed a baby in her early 20’s and later adopted an African American son. She has found her birth parents, found her biol...
Nov 08, 2017•48 min•Season 2Ep. 15
Michelle Madrid Branch understands adoption in ways that most others do not. She is both an adoptee and an adoptive parent. She was adopted in the U.K. as a toddler, found her biological family as a teenager, and after she got married and had one biological son, she and her husband adopted two children internationally. They brought home a son from Russia and a daughter from Ethiopia. Michelle has great insight into the struggles and triumphs that adoption can bring to all those involved. She is ...
Nov 01, 2017•46 min•Season 2Ep. 14
We have all heard stories of people who adopt children from abroad and of people who adopt children with disabilities, but today we have a story with both. Sara Berry and her husband were parents to 5 beautiful children when their faith lead them on a path that resulted in the adoption of two children from China. From the start they knew that both children had disabilities but their immediate love for them, made the decision easy, even if the process wasn’t always. Sally was their first adoption...
Oct 18, 2017•41 min•Season 2Ep. 13
Today on the podcast we have a birth mother story from California. Angela Rushing shares her story of how she was brought up in a traumatic household with an alcoholic father and passive aggressive mother, and how this situation ultimately led her to feel unwanted and unnurtured. Before she knew it, she had undergone 2 abortions, and when she found herself pregnant once more, she knew she couldn’t do it again. This is where she began to look into private adoptions and discovered the couple who w...
Oct 11, 2017•45 min•Season 2Ep. 12
There are few more challenging achievements that the average person looks up to more than summiting Mt. Everest. Now imagine doing it blind. That’s what today’s guest Erik Weihenmayer did, becoming the first blind man to do so, along with summiting the rest of the Seven Summits, and kayaking the entire 277 miles of the Grand Canyon on the Colorado River. But his greatest challenge, as he writes in his latest book "No Barriers," was adopting his son Arjun from Nepal and finding a way to fight thr...
Oct 04, 2017•39 min•Season 2Ep. 11
Heather Avis and her husband are parents of three adopted children, two of whom have Down Syndrome. At the start of their adoption journey, they set out to adopt a healthy baby, but after meeting their future daughter Macy, a baby girl with both Down Syndrome and a congenital heart defect that would require surgery and medication, they found themselves in limbo. Unable to say no to this little girl who needed parents, but unable to say yes to the effect this would have on their lives, they strug...
Sep 27, 2017•41 min•Season 2Ep. 10
Today on the podcast, we are so excited to feature Renee Hettich’s story of her experience adopting 4 children internationally. One of her children is from Guatemala, and three of them are from China, our first Chinese adoption story on the podcast! Renee shares how none of the four adoptions went exactly according to plan, with undisclosed health difficulties of which she was unaware at the time, developmental delays and a host of other issues. She knows better than most the challenges of adopt...
Sep 20, 2017•38 min•Season 2Ep. 9
ADOPTION NOW has our first story from Canada! Andra and her husband, Chung, were our first family to apply from a different country. Tune in this week to hear about the Canadian foster care system and how this family found their daughter!
Sep 13, 2017•45 min•Season 2Ep. 8
Do you have questions about PTSD related to adoption? Do you struggle as a parent to understand a child that has experienced early childhood trauma? On this episode of ADOPTION NOW, April Fallon talks with Carrie O'Toole about how to deal with a challenging placement and how to see signs of trauma in the brain. Carrie is an author and life coach with a Masters Degree in Counseling. She now works with adoptive families who are on the brink and trying to put their family back together.
Aug 30, 2017•40 min•Season 2Ep. 7
Beverly Boerner-Reynolds is an adoptive mother from Texas who wrote a book about the love a birthmother has for her child. When she first met her son's birthmother she thought maybe she was a scam artist! When you hear this story, you might think so also!! But what started in doubt, turned into a beautiful friendship and placement of a healthy baby boy.
Aug 23, 2017•41 min•Season 2Ep. 6
Stephen and Natalie had dreams of adopting from the foster care system but the process was not as easy as they had hoped it would be. By a miracle they heard of an infant situation on Facebook and they decided to apply. On this episode of ADOPTION NOW we hear about their rushed journey to bring home a baby through private infant adoption. They had only 6 weeks to get home study ready and figure out how to pay the agency. Their journey still continues as the birthmother is pregnant again! Are the...
Aug 16, 2017•43 min•Season 2Ep. 5
This week on ADOPTION NOW - "Telling Your Adoption Story," Annie Peguero joins the show! Annie was adopted as an infant, and though she loved her parents very much, she wondered about her birth family. This year she decided to go live on Facebook to find them. Her video got 70,000 views and she received a message from someone who thinks they may be related to her. The journey she goes on answers the questions she has had for years and brings her to a place of wholeness.
Aug 09, 2017•42 min•Season 2Ep. 4
Ashley is a birthmother who placed her son 11 years ago and is navigating through open adoption. She talks very openly about the pain she went through the years after placement and now she is an advocate for other birthmothers. She has just released a new curriculum for adoption professionals to help other birthmothers in their journey of healing.
Jul 26, 2017•41 min•Season 2Ep. 3
This week on ADOPTION NOW, April Fallon interviews Victor Mitchell, candidate for Governor of Colorado. It's important when you start the adoption process to know your state law on adoption and foster care. Victor and April talk about what every family needs to know before they say yes to adoption.
Jul 19, 2017•44 min•Season 2Ep. 2
This week on ADOPTION NOW April Fallon interviews her social workers from Nightlight Christian Adoptions. Meaghan and Corie talk about their four adoption programs at Nightlight and how to get started in the adoption process. We cover costs, the homestudy process and questions you should be asking your agency. It was because of these two and Thurman Law Firm, PLLC that April was able to bring home baby Maliyah from Florida.
Jul 05, 2017•41 min•Season 2Ep. 1
Brad Pearse shares his adoption story. He was found as an abandoned baby in the Philippines and was severely underweight. A family from Denver wanted to adopt a baby from that country and were waiting for the call to be matched. God brought them together and by a miracle, Brad would be the one to save his Father's life.
Jun 21, 2017•39 min•Season 1Ep. 47
Carrie O'Toole experienced the pain and suffering of infertility, miscarriage, and an international adoption that went painfully awry. Nothing could have prepared her for the decade-long journey of trying to love her little boy, who struggled to trust and connect after leaving the only home he’d ever known, a Vietnamese orphanage. This week on ADOPTION NOW Carrie sits down with April Fallon to share her adoption story.
Jun 07, 2017•46 min•Season 1Ep. 46
Bethann was raised in an adoptive family. She was the only biological child out of five siblings. This week on ADOPTION NOW she talks about what it was like to grow up in an interracial family. She shares her own journey growing a family with her husband Zach. After they had two miracle sons, Bethann could not have any more children. They decided to start the adoption process and had no idea the rollercoaster they would be on to finally bring home Baby Vera.
May 31, 2017•43 min•Season 1Ep. 45
Jen Milian was adopted from Colombia into a loving family as a baby. She had no idea that 6 (maybe more!) of her biological siblings were also given up for adoption. One of her biological brothers grew up just miles from her in New York. On this episode of ADOPTION NOW, Jen talks about what it was like to be adopted, her struggles as she found herself, and her recent incredible story about her biological family.
May 17, 2017•43 min•Season 1Ep. 44
Heath and Laura's Story by April Fallon
May 10, 2017•40 min•Season 1Ep. 43
Corrine Hellyar Christian is the Director of Colorado United for Adoption. She is passionate about all aspects of adoption. She is an advocate for birthmother care and open adoption. Corrine shares her journey through miscarriages, adoptions, and pregnancies. She speaks on how she has kept her heart and home open to her children's birthparents and even their extended family. Her story is so inspiring!
May 03, 2017•43 min•Season 1Ep. 42
Ashley is an birthmother whose adoption story started in an abortion clinic. She shares about her life changing moment and how she placed her baby 11 years ago. Ashley Mitchell has shared her story all over the country through nationally acclaimed writing series, award-winning service, television + radio interviews and hundreds of blogs + business sites. She is known for her vulnerability and realness through her speaking, writing, mentoring and advocacy work for the adoption community. She is t...
Apr 26, 2017•44 min•Season 1Ep. 41
Lauren Stokes, M.A., L.P.C., is a licensed professional counselor at Create Connectivity Counseling PLLC. She is also a writer for Adoption.com. She is an adult adoptee who was raised in an open adoption. This means that after she was adopted at 2 1/2 weeks old, her adoptive parents allowed her biological parents into Lauren's life. In this interview Lauren shares the great benefits of open adoption, while also emphasizing the need to embrace the complexities of the emotional journey through ado...
Apr 19, 2017•43 min•Season 1Ep. 40
April Fallon talks with Brittany about her and her husband's journey adopting their son Connor. After a very difficult road and months of waiting for finalization, the couple wanted another baby, but could not afford (financially and emotionally) another traditional adoption. Chris and Brittany discovered Embryo Adoption! She is now 6 months pregnant with a baby girl that the couple adopted. Tune in to this episode to hear this remarkable story!
Mar 22, 2017•42 min•Season 1Ep. 39
Noah and April share their current adoption journey. They invite their lawyer, Christine Thurman from Thurman Law Firm, to share her insight on adoption. She has placed 22 babies in the last year and she is fighting to keep the costs low.
Mar 15, 2017•44 min•Season 1Ep. 38
Jessica shares Scott and her journey through several failed adoptions, bringing home their first baby Ty, their plan to try embryo adoption, and the phone call that brought baby number two!
Feb 22, 2017•45 min•Season 1Ep. 37
Jessica shares her journey to adopt as a single woman. She always knew she wanted to be a mother, but had no idea the process would be so challenging! Two years ago, Jessica was matched to an expectant birthmother in Florida. She shares what she went through to bring home baby Maryn.
Feb 15, 2017•43 min•Season 1Ep. 36
