This question is a hard one to answer in general because there are so many things to consider. Different circumstances lead people to adopt. For some people it is their desire to adopt because they see the need of so many children. Some folks adopt because they never wanted to have biological children, whatever the reason; feared genetic/health concerns, single parenting, etc. Some people adopt young children after their biological children have left the nest; perhaps they feel it's too much of a physical risk or they are unable to have any more bio children. Some people frankly like being parents and enjoy having children around. They may adopt multiple times and have new children alongside their teens or adult children and grandchildren. They just like big families!
Okay, so now why did WE choose adoption? I don't know that we so much "chose" adoption, I mean we did have to be the ones to make the commitment and begin the paperwork process- but it was more like a series of events that lead us to it. W always knew we wanted children, just never gave it much thought to how we'd get 'em. We never thought about adoption but never ruled it out as an option either. We just figured we'd grow our family like everyone else, but God had a different plan. We didn't begin to think about having a family until about six years into our marriage. I had finished graduate school a few years earlier and now the timing just seemed "better" for us. We began talking more seriously but hadn't yet begun our family when just a few short months later we discovered my wonderful husband had developed a serious health issue. This required surgery, and a year of treatment (this is something for another post) but needless to say we looked at life a little different and began taking nothing for granted. We love each other dearly and are so thankful for God's mercy and grace during this time- I think we really learned to lean on Him and to LISTEN. Some times if you wait quietly that's when He speaks the loudest. I dont' mean audibly, but to your heart where you feel it and know there's no mistaking. It took us a few years to consider parenthood again, then it wasn't quite as easy as we had planned. We utilized the help of a reproductive specialist and tried artificial insemination a few times. We had made preparations for this(just in case) prior to Larry beginning his treatment. It didn't work, four times, that's not many, but that's all it took for us to decide that maybe this wasn't God's plan for us. We still wanted children desperately but were not willing to try more invasive fertility measures. We truly felt that with all of our years of marriage and no pregnancy, then 4 tries at AI that maybe we should just try acceptance. So time passed and we became more content, I mean, I still had my husband and God spared him, I thought perhaps I was being selfish for wanting more.
We had resigned to being childless and then a series of events unfolded and we began to seriously pray about the Lord's will. We had to make the decision to continue with more invasive procedures or accept our status or turn to other options of growing our family. Things became more clear to us as God put people in our path, closed doors and opened others. We trusted Him fully with this and we began exploring adoption and researching and talking to others (thanks Terri and Kelly). We requested literature from dozens of agencies and attended seminars. Then on July 15th 2006 we made our commitment, we mailed our application and first fees to our agency in Austin Texas. Peace was evident- we were on our way to being parents.
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