We had so many adoption experts participate in our Adoption Perspectives Conference in November who shared valuable information and resources for couples considering adoption, parents of adopted children, and people working to support birth mothers. Katie Manuel was at the conference and shared with us some of the wisdom she has gathered about the adoption process through her own two adoptions, and through her work with Christian Adoption Consultants. We had a chance to speak with her to get some additional insight into her story and expertise.
Katie says she and her husband intended to adopt from the very beginning of their marriage. After the birth of their third biological child, they decided the time was right.
It was through this adoption that Katie first learned about Christian Adoption Consultants:
We started our adoption journey intending to foster to adopt a child. We took the appropriate classes, began our home study, and in the middle of our process…. MOVED. We found out that we would have to start completely over with getting certified. We knew this was God’s way of changing our path. At that moment we knew we were supposed to switch gears and pursue a Private Adoption. This is when we found Christian Adoption Consultants. We were immediately drawn to our consultant, and knew the Lord led us straight to her. We brought our son home just weeks after completing our home study.
Katie fell in love with Christian Adoption Consultants, and her consultant, Tracie, from the beginning. She adopted two children, one who has special needs and one who is from China, with help from Tracie:
Through my years of experience, I have gained knowledge in almost every area of adoption: Foster care, Private adoptions, and International adoption. I am continuously learning, educating myself, and growing as a Consultant and Adoptive mom.
Through both adoptions, Katie and her husband waiting on the Lord to guide their steps. She said that Jeremiah 29:11 was a verse that they quoted often to remind themselves that He was in control of their family. Katie said that similarly, faith is what she relies on to encourage her clients and to motivate her own work as a Christian adoption consultant:
God’s word is what carried us through both of our adoption processes and I always point my adoptive families back to the word as well. When we started getting weary, or letting a trickle of doubt enter our minds, we went back to the promise He gave us. I pray for my families and try to encourage them during this process of ups and downs they may experience.
The families Katie counsels are at any stage of the adoption process from considering the option to waiting anxiously for a placement. She said Christian Adoption Consultants list each couple with several agencies to cut the typical adoption waiting time down from one to two years to six to ten months.
Katie encourages families not to let the potential cost of adoption keep them from pursuing the option. She said questions about cost are the ones couples worry about most, but once she explains tax credits, grants, and fundraising, they see that adoption is doable.
Our goal is to simplify the adoption process and greatly reduce the exorbitant costs normally associated with adoption. We do not want high agency expenses to deter anyone from expanding their heart and home to a child.
The final piece of advice Katie had to offer to adopting parents is plug into an adoption community.
Find your Tribe! Find adoption groups on social media, find a local adoption group in your area and GO. Go make friends who are walking this similar path and I promise, you will never regret having those people in your life!
If you are interested in working with Katie or Christian Adoption Consultants you can visit their website. If you would like to learn more about how you can help the adoption community, contact us. If you know adoption is right for you and need an attorney to handle your case, our co-founder Todd Gaudin has 20 years of experience building families through adoption.
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