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“She’s The One”
by Michele HeffnerI was six years old when two of my older siblings and I were adopted. Three years ago, my parents also adopted my younger brother. My husband, Don, has a brother who is adopted as well. Because of our personal experiences with adoption we always talked about adopting at least one child.
“We need to talk to that family.”
We had our son, Jacob, in 2000 and in 2003 started trying to conceive our second child. We were in church one Sunday in July of 2003 when we saw the Abel family. God spoke to our hearts and at the same time in the service we turned to one another and said something like, “We need to talk to that family.”
After the service we approached the Abels and exchanged phone numbers and discussed meeting to talk about adoption and Brittany's Hope further. That is exactly what we did about a week or so later. Right away Don and I decided we wanted to adopt an international special needs child.
We started the homestudy paperwork, meetings, and physical exams in August 2003, and by the end of October the homestudy was complete. During this time we were also researching placement agencies and countries and their various adoption requirements. We were open to several different countries. Russia was not one of them because of the amount of time one has to spend in the country (3 weeks) and both parents have to travel. In fact, we were considering India because only one parent had to travel.
After the service we approached the Abels and exchanged phone numbers and discussed meeting to talk about adoption and Brittany's Hope further. That is exactly what we did about a week or so later. Right away Don and I decided we wanted to adopt an international special needs child.
We started the homestudy paperwork, meetings, and physical exams in August 2003, and by the end of October the homestudy was complete. During this time we were also researching placement agencies and countries and their various adoption requirements. We were open to several different countries. Russia was not one of them because of the amount of time one has to spend in the country (3 weeks) and both parents have to travel. In fact, we were considering India because only one parent had to travel.
I immediately thought, “She’s the one.”
Throughout this entire process I was in contact with Candy Abel. In a conversation in October of 2003, she mentioned she had video and pictures of a little girl from Russia who was receiving a personal grant from Glenn (President of Heritage Builders) and Andrea Livelsberger. That night I picked up the information to review thinking we would look at it but the answer would be no. Again God had different plans. I saw the video and pictures and immediately thought, she’s the one.
By the end of October we had applied to Cradle of Hope Adoption Center, Inc. (the agency Ekaterina, or Katya, as we call her, was placed with) and immediately began to assemble our dossier for Russia. Don left for the first trip to Russia to meet our daughter on December 7th. He returned home December 13th in love and with lots of pictures and video for Jacob and I. February 20, 2004, Don and I flew to Russia to adopt and bring Katya home. We returned home March 6, 2004.
September 6, 2004 marked the six-month anniversary of our entire family. Sure there was an adjustment especially at first and there have been challenges but there also has been great joy. It is great to see her experience things for the first time, to see her grow and become attached to family members. it is also wonderful to see how she and Jacob get along. In her eyes, Jacob is the best and Jacob thinks she is great too. He has on several occasions said, “Thank you for bringing me a sister from Russia.” In November we celebrated her third birthday, and this past Christmas was a joyous occasion with Katya in our family.
Without Brittany's Hope (and the corporate sponsors like Heritage Builders and the donations Brittany's Hope receives from everyday people) we never would have been able to adopt Katya. We are a one-income family because I am a full-time mother. To cover the cost of adoption we used our savings, the Brittany's Hope grant, and money raised through a fundraiser. The fundraiser was a huge success because of all the support we received from family, friends, and neighbors. We cannot imagine Katya (and the many other children who have yet to be adopted) growing up in an orphanage. God's calling is often ignored or postponed, but God will not ask more from us than we are capable of doing. So if you feel a “pang” in your heart and a weight on your mind, don't ignore it.
With much gratitude to many people, Michele, Don, Jacob and Katya Heffner
info@brittanyshope.org
