We started taking MAPP classes to be eligible to adopt through the state foster care system.  While taking our classes we were continually discouraged as we were told that it would be next to impossible for us to find a little girl under the age of five without being willing to foster first.  We were not willing to do this because we feared it would not be good for our two boys who were now six and eight.  We finished our classes and waited for someone to call and schedule a home study.  We waited, and waited, and waited. 

We saw children on Heart Galleries all over the U.S. come and go and we could not be considered for them because we did not have an approved home study.   When we were tired of waiting I started calling, trying to find out why no one had reached out to us.  We were told that our county did not have any children who fit the description of what we were looking for. For that reason our home study was not a priority.  We were heartbroken and at that time we decided to give up. 

About nine months went by and I came across an article online about how the Governor of our state was so involved with adoption and how he had increased the rate of adoption of foster children since his inauguration into office.  Although I thought it was a long shot, I decided to email the Governor's office and ask for his help.  I never thought it would come, but two weeks later I received a call from one of his staff members.  I described what we had been through and he was appalled.  He assured us that he would look into it.  Again I was skeptical, but about a week later I received a call from the adoption coordinator in our state letting us know that we had been assigned a case worker.

We finished our home study on January 10, 2009.  On January 11^th, we submitted it for a sister set we had seen on your Heart Gallery.  I had fallen in love with these two little girls the second I saw them two months earlier.  I was convinced however that they would find a family long before we finish our home study and could be considered for them.  But God had other plans. 

In the meantime, we continued to submit our home study for other children we saw on Heart Galleries around the U.S., but  my heart kept going back to the two smiling faces I had seen.  In April 2009, we were told that we had been one of three families chosen to be represented in committee.  I tried not to get too excited as I knew that the odds were not in our favor.  I printed a picture of the girls and kept it in my purse.  On July 9^th, 2009 our lives were changed forever when we received the call we had been waiting for.  We had been chosen.

We met our daughters August 27^th, 2009, and brought them home on Sept 3^rd. They came into our lives and our hearts that day and they fit in as if they've always been there.  They have completed our family.  The girls have played soccer and are now in swimming lessons.

I cannot imagine our lives without the girls. We hope to use our experience to convince people that adoption is a wonderful experience and that you should never give up on your dream to have a family.  I want to thank your gallery for what you do.  You bring parents and families together.  Without your work we would not be the parents of two beautiful and amazing little girls.

The Coleman Family

Henry, Kim, Bradley, Wesley, Malaysia, and Diamond

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