I had always dreamed of a house full of children.  Howard wanted more children too! But we married late in life. We were both thirty-eight years old when we got married. Having a large family was probably out of the question or just a dream for an older couple with stressful and demanding careers.

Our son Matthew was a miracle. A gift from God as his name implies. He was conceived just one month after we were married. Not quite a honeymoon baby - but close enough! We celebrated our first anniversary in a restaurant with our infant son.

Shortly after his birth I went back to work. Days turned into months and months into years and we were nowhere near our dream of having a large family. I truly believe that we were not emotionally ready – being physically ready had nothing to do with it. We were very rapped up in our son, our family and our careers and our plans for brothers and sisters were unintentionally put on hold.

One December weekend in 2003 Howard was helping me at an industry event when we saw the most precious little baby girl. Her mom told us that she had recently adopted her daughter from Vietnam This new mom was several years older than we were. I had no real knowledge that there were doors open to older couples and singles who wanted to be parents. The woman had explained to us that she too had a stressful career and that parenthood was slipping right by. My mind was racing with all sorts of questions and she was so kind and gave us so much information. She made a commitment to adopt a child and when she did, she chose to change careers so that she could be with her adorable baby girl more often.

A few weeks later, while watching TV a flash went off in Howard’s head! “Let’s adopt” he said. There are many children out there that need loving homes. I couldn’t believe what he was saying. When I saw that little baby from Vietnam, I too thought this might be the answer we were looking for.

My co-worker Zoe was also my inspiration. She was adopted from Korea twenty-eight years earlier. She was such a lovely young woman from a loving family. She had Caucasian brothers and sisters and would tell me about her childhood often. I knew that I could provide a home to a child like Zoe’s parents provided for her. We were emotionally ready and charged! Adoption here we come! It felt so right.