Differences between birthing and fostering…

Is there a difference between having had my biological son and fostering with the hopes to adopt? Or adoption in general? Yes, there are several differences. There are many, many more similarities, but the reality is there are some differences and I think it is important to be aware of them and talk about them. Some times I think the adoption world is too passionate about acting like things are 100% the same and I think this harms both the beauty of adoption and the beauty of birth. Both children are equally, 100% your children whether you adopt them or birth them, but how they come to be your children are very different experiences.

Differences (for me, of course others may have a different list!):

 #1) Energy Level. I have way more energy mothering a newborn child that I didn’t birth then I did with Judah. Lets be honest, for most women, childbirth is like getting hit by a truck (and for some of us...then having that truck reverse back over us).  It takes a month for our body to stop doing strange things (I’ll spare the details for those who have yet to experience this) and for the pain to subside, then several more months to be completely back to “normal”. If you nurse, your tired the entire first year of your child’s life (at least I was).

   So of course I am still very tired, still waking up throughout the night to comfort our precious baby. But even in my tiredness, it is much easier not having the physical pain to recoup from along with the chemical imbalance from hormones needed to produce milk.  

   Now this shouldn’t make adoptive moms feel any less “motherly” (trust me, you will be plenty tired if you are caring for a newborn…we don’t have to be the most tired possible to feel like we're doing our job as mamas) nor should it be a reason to only adopt, because mothering requires much greater sacrifice then a few months of pain.

#2) Nursing. Nursing was an amazing, wonderful experience and I am sad that I wasn’t able to experience nursing my older two children. If you have adopted children and been unable to have biological children, don’t feel guilty for feeling sad about the loss of nursing your child. It is natural and normal to desire to nurse. Being sad about this loss, does not mean that you  love your adopted child any less and either does wishing you could experience having biological children. Birth is the most natural thing in the world and that is why my children that I adopted tell me sometimes that they wish they could have come from my tummy. Because they love me and I am their mama. They know that the most natural way to come to us would have been through birth. But I tell them that while I also wish that was possible and would have been wonderful, that I would not trade the experience to adopt them for anything in the world. Because I didn’t get to choose my biological children, but I got to choose them. Also, I tell them they wouldn’t have the beautiful skin, eyes, nose, toes, or even process information the way they do had they come from my body. So it’s not that I love my children I adopted less because I didn’t get the experience of nursing and birthing them, it is that I love them so much that I wish I could spare them from every ounce of pain this world has to offer, including the loss of their biological family. However, I know that sparing your children from pain is impossible, so better to equip them for it.

    Sidenote: some adoptive mamas are able to nurse their children-it is expensive, challenging, and typically you still need to supplement…AND MANY moms who birth children and want to nurse are unable. So-again, this is not a good reason to adopt only or not to adopt at all.

#3) Exciement from loved ones.  This has been the hardest one for me emotionally. When I was pregnant with Judah everyone (EVERYONE) was ecstatic and talked non-stop about our coming baby.  Every week people asked me questions about how far along I was, what the gender was, etc, etc. This just wasn’t the same with deciding to foster baby #4.

    With fostering/adopting we have had to deal with a small group of people telling us we’re crazy, that we can’t save the whole world (duh!), that we have Savior-complexes, and stating their disagreement with our decision. Also, it has just been hard to have people in our inner circles who were excited about Judah being born, but were silent/asked no questions, showed no interest about the coming addition to our family. I am SO excited about what we are doing and naturally want people to be excited with me. But thankfully my husband, Vermon, is wonderful about pointing me to all the people who are excited and helping to remind me to love and overlook the offense I am tempted to take.  Not to mention, we do not live for the approval of man and after much prayer and processing, I am now thankful for a minority disapproval from people, because it shows me how easily I can put my trust in people, instead of the Lord. 

   All of that being said, MANY people were equally excited (and each of them now have a special place in my heart for that!) and people who I barely even know offered to help and serve us because they wanted to be a part of orphan care too. The blessings of those who have cared and surrounded our family with love and support far, far outweighs the few who haven’t. 

   

#4) Opportunity to Share the Gospel.  This is what MOST excites me. There are many, many more opportunities to share the gospel when you are fostering/adopting. Of course this happens in parenting, in general; however, I get asked ALL the time why we we are doing what we are doing.  I have been able to talk to my neighbors, starbucks employees,  family members, my children, the mailman, the grocery store clerk, and the guy sitting next to me on the airplane about WHY we decided to open our family to children who many people wouldn’t. It is more then just the great need, it is more then feeling sorry or trying to change the world or be a good person.  It is because Christ found me when I was on a path headed to destruction, rescued me from the pit of hell, and poured out his blood as a sacrifice to atone for my vast sins against God. Then, because of Christ’s blood, God adopted me and made me his child and a co-heir of Christ. I was dead, now I am alive. I was blind, now I see. I had a heart of stone, now a heart of flesh. I was an enemy of God, now a child. We do what we do out of an abundance of joy for the salvation offered to us in Christ Jesus!

#5) They aren't mine. :( This is different for those who get to adopt their children without fostering, but as a foster parent...these babies aren't "mine" legally and won't be anytime soon. It is really hard, painful, and sad to have a child leave that you love. I love each child as though they are mine, attach to each child as though they would be mine forever, and pray for each child as though they would be mine...but at any point the baby we are loving may get placed with a biological family member. This is hard, but it is worth it for many, many reasons (I'll save those reasons for another post). The reality is...even my oldest three don't belong to me and only the Lord knows the number of their days--so I just live obediently in the moment God's given me and try not to spend too much time thinking about what our family will look like a year from now!


Next post: Some of my favorite SIMILARITIES between birthing and fostering... 

Reading More in 2012

If I only had time for one thing besides mothering, that place would go to reading deep, thought provoking books—and lots of them. Thankfully, I don’t have to chose only one thing and one of the things I love most about not having a 9 to 5 job is the freedom to do many things besides parent…as well as many things along side parenting. But let’s just say that we are in an alternate universe and my time was packed with mothering and I could only chose one thing extra. That one thing would be reading and thinking about what matters most in this world.

I would rather give up bathing then reading…gross, I know.

Sadly, I find too many young moms accepting the fact that mothering & reading don’t go together. I think the joke I most often hear at baby showers is how challenging it will be to read a verse in the Bible, let alone a chapter. I find this very disconcerting and terrible advice.  It is interesting how many of us women find hours a week to exercise, do laundry, shop, etc but don’t find the time to read. But more then reading God’s word (which is a necessity, I don’t know how we can survive without at least this reading consistently)—I don’t think it is wise to go most of your early years of mothering without books by your nightstand that you are slowly working your way through (and I don’t mean parenting books)--keep one in your diaper bag too, I am surprised how much I have gotten to read just waiting in doctors offices, dentist appointments, etc.

I don’t say this to guilt trip already overwhelmed moms who find it hard to pick up their Bible’s, let alone a book. All of us are made differently. Some of my friends are extroverts and they need play dates and adult interaction with other moms to survive, but that is not me. I long for time to sit down and read, dissect, and think about something.  But even if you do not love reading, I can almost personally guarantee that a good book will help keep your eyes focused on eternity, your hand to the plow, and your feet busy going about God’s business.

Reading nourishes me and helps me be a better mom. I love talking to my kids about what I read early in the day by Jonathan Edwards, CS Lewis, or DA Carson. I had so much fun last year explaining Mextax’s Bonehoffer biography to my oldest son in words he could understand. But I still didn’t get to read in 2011 what I want to read in 2012…so that is what I want to do more of this next year (and hopefully I won’t have to sacrifice too many showers).