On June 11, 1998 a window of opportunity opened for Troy & I. The Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) are starting a new program to increase the adoption of children in the welfare system. Illinois Governor Jim Edgar and DCFS have joined forces to speed up the process of terminating parental rights so that these children can know what it is like to grow up in a loving and nurturing environment & become productive individuals.
The children that are waiting to be adopted are age 3 and up. These children do come from abusive situations (emotional, physical or sexual in nature). There are also children that have medical problems and some that had to be given up because their parents could not adequately care for them. They are classified as "special needs" children, but what it comes down to is just wanting to be loved.
DCFS has begun a pilot program with 30 hospitals and St Francis just happened to be one of them. They are pushing for medical professionals to open their hearts and home to a child in need of Love.
On June 19, 1998 I attended the first information meeting. It was very exciting. On July 9, 1998 Troy and I will begin the adoption process with our first orientation meeting. Troy and I always knew we would adopt a child or maybe even two, but we never imagined it would occur this way. It has only been 5 months since Kaitlyn passed away (and she has not been forgotten or loved any less). To others it may seems as though we are rushing the process, but Troy and I have fully discussed these issues and we are ready to have a family. We just know that there is a child(ren) just waiting for us to love and care for them! We have not given up on having a child of our own (that we can keep and raise here on earth). It has just been pushed back another year.
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