Adoption Story: The M. Family

I am so very excited to finally be able to share these photos. You see the M. Family has a very special story. They are an adoptive family. With their permission, I can tell you a little bit about them. This family has a sweet and fun older son who was very excited to get a little brother. I first met the M. Family this past summer when their second son was born. They adopted him through a local San Antonio adoption agency after being matched with a birthmom who chose an adoption plan. This birthmom looked through parent profiles and chose the M. Family to parent her baby. The M. Family lives out of state and came to Texas for the scheduled delivery of their baby. When a family adopts from out of state, they usually have to stay in Texas for 1-2 weeks while both states process the required paperwork. This means the parents have to stay in a hotel with their newborn duirng that time. If you have ever parented a newborn, then you know that its hard enough, but without the comforts of home, it can be really challenging. You then have to consider the flight or cross-country drive back that these families make to get back home. Adoptive families are truly exceptional because they understand these challenges yet will do whatever it takes for their new baby. So this first set of photos are from little Mr. K's newborn sessioin...in the hotel room. He did great and we just had to get creative so it didn't look too much like they were in a hotel.

The second set of photos is from baby K's adoption hearing last month. I felt so honored when mom contacted me again to photograph this very special day. Big brother couldn't make the trip this time but I know he was at home cheering his baby brother on. The adoption laws in Texas state that the child must reside with the family for at least 6 months before the adoption can be finalized. During this time, the adoptiove family is monitored by their local child welfare agency to ensure the child is being cared for appropriately. This means monthy visits with caseworkrs, monthly reports, and updated homestudies. So, you can imagine how wonderful adoption day really is. Not only do those parents no longer have be monitored, but the baby will officially have a change in name, and the adoption become FINAL! That is music to the families ears for sure!

I hope you enjoy the photos of the sweet M. Family. And if you know an adoptive family, give them a hug the next time you see them because they go through a lot to build their family...and they wouldn't have it any other way.