Meet the St.Cyr Family!
Our journey to adoption started many years ago with me. My parents were adopted twice from foster care. I was always very familiar with the need for foster and adoptive families.
I have followed the LA Heart Gallery page for a while. In October 2019, a post of theirs caught my attention. A little girl they were advocating for happened to be in my class at school. I’ve seen the David Platt quote, “Orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names, see their faces... “
I knew she was in care but didn’t know all of the circumstances. (She’s been adopted by her aunt and things are wonderful).
That evening, I pulled up the Heart Gallery website to discover albums of kids waiting for families. Once again I felt sick to my stomach when I saw a sibling group that I had taught in summer school. Their faces changed everything. I showed Eric and we began to really talk about this calling I had been feeling for a while. and he agreed that night to start praying about it.
The next day, I read over every profile on the website. One little girl stood out. I felt an instant connection with her picture and stared at it all day. As I was sitting in bed that night, looking at her profile again, I noticed Eric intensely looking at his phone. When I looked over, Lilly’s profile was on his phone too! He said he had felt the same draw to her profile and could not stop looking and reading, and that he was ready to commit to this. I had never shared the website or her profile. The next day, we called to start the process.
Fast forward - Lilly moved in the same week the world shut down for COVID. Prior to COVID, Lilly had more than a dozen placements, hospitalizations, and several failed adoptions. Because I am a teacher, I was home with her and our now 12-year-old son. This gave us that “maternity bonding stage” that most traditional families get. I believe this made a difference for us. A caption on a picture I came across, “..and she was a warrior princess,” perfectly describes Lilly.
On August 9th, we were able to petition for adoption. On September 28, 2020, we were able to provide permanency for our daughter, who had dreamed of that day for almost 5 years but had since lost hope that it would ever happen. It was a glorious celebration on Zoom with 30+ of our closest family and friends.
Since the adoption became final, I would love to say it’s all been a walk in the park, but that is not the reality. We have had to fight for many things: a birth certificate, a social security card, quality mental health services, and the medications we need to allow our daughter to thrive. This was a reality we didn’t expect. We are appreciative of board pay and healthcare, but the processes need to be better. These kids deserve better.
Adopting from foster care is extremely difficult. Trauma informed parenting is the hardest job I have ever had, but it’s the most rewarding. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. We are now parents to two amazing kids.
