Mark, Marie, and Soren’s Story

We will forever be grateful to Kathy and the A Act of Love team for making our little family possible. Like many other couples, we didn’t anticipate any difficulty conceiving a child. Yet, after several years of trying, including stressful fertility treatments, we realized that, for whatever reason, this was not going to be possible for us. Adoption had always been on our minds throughout the process, but sifting through all the options and considerations took immense effort and careful thought.
After attending numerous information sessions at different adoption agencies in the Washington, DC, area, we decided to work with the Barker Foundation. However, since we chose domestic adoption, it became clear that it might take as much as several years to be matched with a baby. Barker recommended we consider doing the home study through them but collaborating with some out-of-state adoption agencies for placement. They gave us a list of about one dozen adoption agencies, including A Act of Love.
From the very start, A Act of Love struck us as leaps and bounds above the rest of the pack. Marie will always remember her first call to their office. Even though it was a Friday, and the office was closed, Kathy answered the phone and took the time to patiently and kindly answer all her questions about A Act Of Love’s program and the placement process. Marie was so impressed by Kathy’s responsiveness and dedication. Immediately, it was obvious that the work of A Act Of Love was Kathy’s passion and that she had created an organization that felt more like a family than simply an adoption agency.
It took us a bit of time to get our paperwork done, but once we had a completed home study; it was only a matter of months before we were matched with our beloved son, Soren. Kathy and Jill called us on December 15, 2009, to let us know that we had been chosen by Soren’s birth mom. We were ecstatic to hear the news and spent the next month preparing for the arrival of our little son.
Soren was born on January 13, 2010. We were so lucky to be able to be there in Arizona the day he was born, and to have Cheryl and Laraine there to support and encourage all of us in this exciting but also difficult moment. Like all of the A Act of Love staff we have worked with, Cheryl and Laraine were so kind, warm, and helpful, and it was clear to us that Kathy’s example set a tone for the agency as a whole.
Our beloved son is now almost three years old. We love him so much—beyond the capacity of words to convey–and always feel so grateful to be his parents. We are so glad that our journey led us to adoption through A Act of Love, and that we had Kathy and all the A Act of Love team to walk with us on this journey. Kathy can be sure that her life’s work has profoundly and forever touched this little family.