Thank you, Journeys of the Heart!

You have brought our wonderful son, Yorcaef, home from Guatemala, and as we settle into the most incredible new family life together, we have had a little time to reflect on our experience in working with you through our adoption.  We wanted to write and thank you for so many things and tell you that selecting you as our adoption agency is one of the best decisions we have ever made!  There are so many reasons why we feel this way.

We had been discussing for years how beautiful we felt building our family through adoption would be.  When we decided we were ready to move forward, we didn’t know anyone close to us who had adopted, so we were on our own to select an adoption agency.  We felt an international adoption would best suit us, so we were especially nervous- About making the right choice.  We knew we had to find an agency that made us feel it had the experience and expertise to maneuver through the complicated waters of international adoption, and further, an agency we felt comfortable entrusting with our hopes, our dreams and our very future.

From our first interactions with Journeys’ staff, we could feel something very special.  It was clear to us that staff members had a passion for the work of building families through adoption; a love for the children of the world in need of families; and a strong dedication to supporting client families through the adoption process and beyond.  These attributes combined with your extensive experience and positive references made us feel secure in your care, and we began our own personal journey with you to adopt a baby boy.

The Journeys’ staff is extraordinary

What amazed us throughout the process of our adoption was that every single Journeys’ staff member that worked with us had the same qualities:  exceptional professional competency and tremendous enthusiasm not just for their work but also for us personally.  We felt the constant support of staff that made us feel as though we were being embraced by friends.  You were always there for us.  You treated us with kindness and care and gave any questions we had the highest priority.  The attention you gave us made us feel that we were your only clients!  We felt your strong personal commitment to us and our new son in Guatemala every step of the way, along with the highest level of professionalism, that in combination gave us what we feel was quite literally the “perfect adoption.”  Our son’s adoption was flawless in every sense and flowed perfectly from start to finish, moving exactly as you described it to us from the beginning.  From beginning to end, we felt the security of your guiding hand in every detail, even helping us with travel arrangements and giving us a personal phone call when we arrived in Guatemala to be sure that all was well.

When we arrived in Guatemala, you arranged for your in-country partners to meet us at the airport and then escort us through all that we neededand wanted to do while there.  Because we have had very little international travel experience, we cannot tell you how important this assistance was to us.  Our escorts were the kindest and friendliest people, and they helped make our time even more memorable.

The communication from Journeys is outstanding

We appreciated, too, the ongoing communication you gave us- About our son throughout the process.  From well-baby pediatric reports to progress reports- About his new milestones to photographs and video, you helped bridge the miles between us and our son through the wait for him to come home.   Once our son was placed with us, the wait for him to be home and in our arms was certainly difficult.  But you explained all aspects of the process very thoroughly and assured us frequently that everything was moving along exactly as it should.  We were comforted by your understanding of our nervousness and so grateful for all your care to ease our minds.

Journeys’ Guatemala program

It is clear to us that Journeys has taken very meticulous care in building its Guatemala program, and being on the receiving end of this exceptional program is amazing.  We marvel every day at our beautiful son and are astounded at his perfect fit into our family.  From the moment Yorcaef was placed in our arms, he could not feel more like our son, and he felt as though he had been in our arms since his birth.  To our amazement, there was no adjustment period for him.  We fully expected that it would take time for him to understand who we were and feel the security of our love.  We had loved him from a distance for months, but of course he did not know us.  Yet the bonding and connection started immediately for him – quite literally in our hotel room in Guatemala!  If we didn’t have photographs of him cuddling and hugging us in our hotel room, we might think we dreamed it in the excitement of those first moments.  His hugs were not “clinging” out of fear or desperation, as we might have expected, but were soft and loving as he smiled at us.  That love has continued from him every day that he has been home, and we enjoy his hugs, kisses, love and laughter every day.  The speed of his attachment to us has been absolutely extraordinary!

We attribute this truly remarkable experience to the “forces in the universe” that brought us together and to the Journeys’ Guatemala program.  We are all born with distinct personalities, but we believe Yorcaef’s loving personality was greatly influenced by his very loving foster family where he lived since his birth.  We believe he felt tremendous love from his foster family and therefore learned to recognize love and give love.  We believe he transferred the loving bond he had with his foster mother and foster family to us the moment he felt our love, just as you told us the Journeys’ program was designed to do.  We traveled to Guatemala to bring our son home and watched the tears stream down his foster mother’s cheeks as she said good-bye to him.  We listened to his foster mother describe her love for him and felt tears stream down our own cheeks.  We thank you, Journeys of the Heart, for creating a program that gave our son this beautiful start in life.

We feel that in our experience, Journeys’ Guatemala program is second to none.  Journeys’ partners in Guatemala are dedicated to giving the children the very best care in every possible way as well as completing the legal in-country requirements in the most proficient manner.  In our assessment, Yorcaef did not only have exceptional medical, well-baby and family care by Guatemalan standards but by U.S. standards as well.    Today, Yorcaef is in absolutely perfect health on all levels, is so happy and smiles all day long.

Our new family life

Yorcaef takes our breath away every day!  We are still in amazement that this beautiful and loving child is our son.  Another adoption agency may have brought us a child that we would love dearly, but it is Journeys of the Heart that brought us this child – this very special child that has filled our hearts with such overwhelming joy.  Our home is filled with so much love, happiness, laughter and fun!  And our extended family and friends just adore him, and with us, marvel at his beautiful personality.  We are truly blessed!

Again, we thank you!

Journeys of the Heart, we cannot find adequate words to describe our love for Yorcaef, nor can we find adequate words to thank you for the most wonderful child in the world, the adoption programs you have created, the support you gave us every step of the way, and the support you continue to give us through your post-adoption activities.  We really feel that you have loved our son right along with us, and it is so clear that you care deeply- About our family. 

Yorcaef’s adoption has been the most wonderful experience of our lives.  So positive was our experience with you in Yorcaef’s adoption that we have just asked your assistance in adopting another son through Journeys’ Guatemala program.  We could never trust another agency to fulfill our dreams in building our family in the way that Journeys has.  We believe your expertise, experience, philosophies, program design, love for the children and care for adoptive families could not be matched anywhere else.  We are so excited and look so forward to bringing our second son home!

From the deepest place in our hearts, we thank you for everything!

Very sincerely,

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Journeys of the Heart is a full service, non-profit adoption agency, certified by the COA, fully Hague Compliant. We provide adoption and relief services from our offices in Oregon, Washington and Illinois. We can work with people from any state in the United States. If you are looking for an adoption agency then please look into our philosophy and our dedication. If domestic adoption, international adoption, or open adoption is in your future then let your journey begin here. Journeys of the Heart Adoption Services is a non-profit organization, described as a 501 (c) (3) organization, by the Internal Revenue Service, EIN 94-3184018. If you wish to make a donation to Journeys and require a copy of our letter of determination from the IRS please email website@journeysoftheheart.net   Copyright MMX All Rights Reserved Journeys of the Heart Adoption - Journeys is Adoption!.