United Together – An Adoption Story

Hands of Hope Blog

In June of 2018, your organization issued tremendous kindness to our family in committing prayers and finances in aiding our adoption to Thailand.

On this day, we are excited to announce to you that our family has finally been united with our daughter. Thank you for your countless prayers. Although we have adopted before from Thailand, I'm not sure anything could have prepared us for adopting and traveling during a pandemic. We left for Thailand the day after Christmas for our month-long trip. The number of hoops our family had to jump through simply just to get to our daughter was complicated, stressful, and beyond overwhelming due to Covid. After we each received at least four Covid tests, met very strict visa regulations, and quarantined in a government-required program for 16 days once in-country, we finally began our 'adoption trip.' Thailand only requires one trip, thankfully. Much of the adoption portion was altered, even changing daily due to a recent rise in Covid cases. But, we were at least able to meet our daughter with her foster family via zoom, and on January 14, 2021, she was united with us as we became a family of four! We saw God complete the impossible and showcase His sovereignty in perfect timing. We saw prayer after prayer answered as it held us up to our heavenly Father each day in Thailand, and continues now that we are home. Our family is adjusting well, and we consider it a tremendous blessing and joy to have this sweet girl be a part of our family. She is a gift! We now begin the post-placement process to finalize her adoption (we cannot show her face publicly online until finalized). Lord willing, we can finalize by the end of 2021.

Thank you for the role you played in giving our daughter a family and showcasing our incredible God to us and everyone who followed along on our adoption journey.

Written By: Jason and Rachel Stephens