So you’re thinking about adopting… Forget the neighbors—what will your kids say? Today on Home School Heartbeat, homeschool mom Mary Ostyn joins host Mike Smith with insights from her family’s journey through adopting six children.
Mike Smith:
Mary, last time you talked about your family’s journey to adoption. You had four children when you first decided to adopt. How did you prepare them and involve them in the adoption process?
Mary Ostyn:
When we began the process to adopt our first son from Korea, our other kids were between 3 and 10. We were really excited, and so it was really natural for the kids to pick up on our excitement. Their response didn’t feel any different to me than when we were expecting a child by birth, and I don’t really think their feelings were different. We have some really precious video of the day that FedEx brought the package with the first pictures of our son. It was just a couple months before he came home. Our kids were gathered all around me on the couch; I couldn’t wait to open the package. And we were all instantly exclaiming over how cute he was. By the time Joshua finally got to come home, the kids were so eager to hold him and welcome him—it was just the most natural thing in the world! For our kids, adoption is simply one of the ways our family has grown.
Mike:
Well Mary, thank you again for your helpful perspective on adoption. And next time, we’ll talk about homeschooling newly adopted children. And until then, I’m Mike Smith.
