Siblings at CPO, Part Two

It has been said that siblings are your first best friends, but what about in open adoption? We present a series of three posts to tell just a few of the sibling stories that we have heard here at CPO and hopefully give you a sense of how it can look both for the adoption family and for the birth family. Remember that every single story is completely individual, and we wouldn’t have that any other way.
Below is part two of three stories gathered by one of our fabulous volunteers, Alaina Butler. Come back soon to see part three.

Our Family Designed by God, Andy and Sarah Justice

The adoption decision for our family required a great deal of faith and obedience in God’s plan for our lives. Through this step of obedience and trust in a sovereign God He has blessed us beyond our wildest dreams. You will never regret trusting God with the details of your life.

God led us to CPO and the whole idea of open adoption.

Joel, Hannah, and Elizabeth were born just two weeks before we found out that we were pregnant, then seven months later we delivered healthy twins. Our triplets were very young when their siblings were born, so they have not really known life without Abigail and Andrew. They are all best buddies and are lost when the others are not up from a nap or are away from the house. When we were chosen by the birth parents to place their child (what they then thought was just one!) with us we told them of our desire to have a large family so they would not be surprised or disappointed if there were siblings later on, and they were happy at the prospect. Before the birth mom delivered the triplets they would tease us that we would probably get pregnant with twins after the triplets were born…and that we did, just a little sooner than anyone could have imagined. (By the way, this was not supposed to be able to happen medically, but with God all things are possible.) The birth parents were very happy to visit us in the hospital when the twins were born.

With two sets of multiples and everyone so close to the same age, the family dynamics can get a bit intense, but we have set out to promote an atmosphere of love and camaraderie between the siblings. They are very free with hugs and kisses for each other, when one gets hurt, or someone needs to say “I’m sorry,” or when going to bed. These past two years have been an extreme amount of work, but they have been filled with the greatest joys of our lives. We would not trade it for anything in the world.

Thank you CPO for being there for our birth parents and for families like us!

And thank you Sarah, for sharing your wonderful story with us. Remember to check back soon for more CPO sibling stories!