Now that we are actively pursuing adoption, it feels so obvious to us that we are on the right path. We are so excited to be parents and although this is an alternative way to get there, it is perfect for us. Besides it simply feeling right, there are a few other reasons we decide to adopt.

1. To give a warm, loving and stable home and future to a child that would not have had one otherwise. To change a child’s life.

2. The world’s population is at max capacity as is. Adopting is a way of lessening that burden by choosing to parent a child that is already born or about to be born, rather than going to great extremes to bring one of our own into the world.

3. We agreed on adoption right away. We both feel that adoption is a very special and unique way to start a family. Neither one of us needed convincing.

4. We know that being related by blood doesn’t matter when it comes to love. We know we can have just as loving and strong a relationship with our adopted child as we would have with a biological child.

5. I won’t have to be pregnant. I want a baby, and although I tried for a long time to get pregnant, nothing about it appeals to me. I would probably be a miserable pregnant woman. Now, I can enjoy the time before we welcome our baby by staying fit and active and happy. Pregnancy was never the main goal; having a family is.

6. I won’t have to go through labor and give birth. Again, though I am sure it really is magical to experience and I would have gladly gone through it, giving birth is just not something I feel I HAVE to do at all costs.

7. Fertility treatments were not for us. So much stress on my body and mind and the risk of multiples is high. It just wasn’t worth the risk to us when there is such an incredible alternative.

8. We’re a little different. Jamie and I have always followed slightly different paths in life than most people. Everyone we know is having a biological baby. Adoption is different. We like different.

9. We think it’s so cool that we will be handpicked by a birthmother to parent her child. We will get to know and hopefully offer some comfort to her during a very difficult time in her life. She can rest assured that her baby will be cherished and cared for always. Her baby will have opportunities and a bright future it may not have had otherwise. Feels like we’ll all be giving each other an incredibly special gift.

10. I think there’s an unborn baby out there somewhere who is destined to belong to our family. I am fascinated by what’s about to happen next: all the little steps and decisions leading up to the moment when a birthmother sees our profile and chooses us to parent her child. I believe the right birthmother will find us and that we will find the right child–and I can’t wait to find out how it all unfolds.