Adoption Profile!

After more than two months of working to get to this point, here we are! We are featured as a waiting family on our agency's website!! I'm providing a link here!

https://www.texasadoptioncenterfamilies.org/whitney-austin-adopt

I am fully aware that this is just words and photos on a screen. A ton of people may see it, or no one could see it. It could help bring us our baby, or not. Who knows! But this feels like a giant step forward! When I received the email today saying our site was up, I was just over the moon excited!

Let me explain what was involved in this process!
The agency told us we needed a profile book. The book will be shown to expectant mothers so they can see a glimpse into our lives and learn a little bit about us. This is our first impression! The agency recommended that we use Mixbook to create the book. (Or we could pay about $800 or more to have a professional do it for us. Um, no thank you!)

Texas Adoption Center has a section on their website where they showcase their waiting families' profiles. I began looking through these profiles. I was incredibly overwhelmed by this! Every profile had some similarities, but there were many differences. I had no idea where to start. I just kept looking at other profiles for insight and ideas.

I used Mixbook to make our guest sign in book for our wedding, but that was a cinch! I just uploaded photos, and I was done! I started a book on Mixbook and just got busy! I tried to tell our story as best as possible. I love color and emotion, and our book is definitely full of both! I finished the profile, ordered a book, requested a PDF, and sent it to the agency.

After our home study was finalized, the agency asked if we wanted to be featured on their website, and I said of course! The sweet lady I had been working with through it all up to this point got me in contact with someone else who manages the website. This person sent us a form to fill out with additional information. I wrote more about us, chose a bunch of pictures, added captions, and sent everything back. She worked quickly, and the next day, TODAY, I got an email from the woman with a link to our online profile! Ahhhhh!

I looked through it, and it's just perfect! I truly believe it shows who we are and how much we long for a sweet child!
It was so amazing to look at the waiting families section of the agency's website and see US! Right there by the others I used for guidance while making our book. We're out there now! Anyone can see our page and learn about us! They can see photos of us with our loved ones. They can read about how much we want to have a child. They can read about how desperately we pray for the woman who will give us her child.

It's so exciting, and it just got SO REAL! One step closer, Baby Starkey, one step closer!