Hey friends! I’m Carly; wife, mama, infertility survivor, adoption advocate and forever fan of coffee and yoga pants.
After 5 years of trying to conceive, followed by infertility treatments — none of which were fruitful — my husband and I felt called to adoption. Adoption was never on our radar, but after some hard years, lots of prayers and soul searching, I knew we were called to a different path than we ever imagined — and what an adventure it was!
After a short 9 months of waiting, we received a call and met a young couple through a non-profit agency. Two days later, we were chosen to be his parents. Two days after that, we were zooming out of town at lightning speed for our son’s birth. We’ve never looked back, and nothing has ever (or will ever) be the same.
Nearly three years later, we received information about a family looking for a couple to adopt their granddaughter. We decided to take a leap and put our names in the hat, so to speak, but remained cautious since it seemed pretty unlikely that they would choose us. After one short month of getting to know her family, we adopted our daughter via private adoption.
Both of our adoptions are open, which means we have an ongoing relationship with the birth families. That looks different for every individual situation, but for us, that means our children’s birth families have attended nearly every birthday party. Some we Facetime with, others we visit regularly, and others are just thrilled with a check-in every few months.
Between my family, my husband’s family, aunts, uncles, cousins (and more!) living in the same vicinity, there’s no shortage of things to do or people to see. Now we’ve essentially doubled our family size with birth families, therefore our holidays and birthdays are just a bit crazier these days. 😉
God really does have a sense of humor, seeing as how I’m (mostly) an introvert who thrives with lots of quiet time. (Surely there’s a lesson to be learned here….Ha!)
But I digress…
I started a small business in 2017 making monthly care packages for waiting adoptive mamas, and was a busy mompreneur for 2.5 years. After prayerful consideration and the adoption of our daughter, I said goodbye to my beloved Heartgrown boxes.
I started this blog, Heartgrown Mama, with a two-pronged intent: to create a space for adoptive mamas to thrive during a season of waiting AND to create a space for mamas to thrive in a season of motherhood. Both seasons come with unique challenges.
So, whether you’re planning to adopt or are a current mama who hopes to be more intentional in her motherhood, you’ve come to the right place.
XOXO,
