Gladney Blog

Volunteer Transitional Care Families are often a crucial part of the adoption experience through The Gladney Center. This is especially true when the baby being placed for adoption enters the world facing medical challenges. In the hospital or at home, Transitional Care Parents provide a loving daily touch to babies in need of a family to help nourish and prepare that baby for a heathier future.  

The Gladney Center’s Transitional Care Services benefits the triad of clients involved in the adoption process. Birth parents do feel more comfortable once they witness the love and attention given to their baby by these supportive volunteers. Adoptive parents benefit from the knowledge and nurturing provided through the transitional care updates, and of course the baby benefits by receiving all the attention and extra love provided before placement day.

Marcus celebrated his 6^th birthday this month and we can't wait to tell you more about him! His foster mother describes him as playful, gentle, and polite. He greets his neighbors, asks for permission to watch T.V., asks for hugs, and likes to play silly.

Love for a child changes everything. Adoption means change and rocks lives and homes to their core. We recently asked adult adoptees, birth parents, adoptive parents, family members, and Gladney staff members to share what adoption means to them, and they shared these words: dreams, whole, safe, connection, opportunity, passion, future, gift, joy, perspectives, sacrifice, love, and hope. In a continuing season of both change and stillness in our world, we are grateful for the foundation that family connections build in a child’s life.

We last advocated for Abel in October of 2020, and are excited to announce we now have extensive updates to his file, including new pictures and videos to share! Since we last wrote about Abel, he has continued to make great progress with his language and speech abilities.

We last met four-year-old Asa in Taiwan in Nov. 2019, and we are excited to announce we now have extensive updates to his file, including new pictures and videos to share! Asa joined our virtual superkids a few weeks ago and we were able to learn more about his developmental and cognitive growth. Just like last time, Asa still loves his toy cars. It’s even better when they are his size so he can ride on them!

Aldo is about to celebrate his 6^th birthday! He has a vibrant and tender personality and a great sense of humor. Aldo is medically and developmentally healthy. He is emotionally stable and usually feels joyful and happy. He has good comprehension in terms of learning, and his strengths lie within hand manipulation and physical activities. He is great at riding a two-wheeled bicycle and enjoys jumping on the trampoline and shooting hoops. He also competed in and finished the Spartan Kids race. Way to go Aldo!

This year, maybe more than in years past, we are counting all of our blessings and giving thanks for everything we have - down to the simplest of things.  This week in the Gladney Home we took some time with our girls to talk about what things we are thankful for.  The answers ranged from food and laughter to our health and the people in our lives that we love and cherish.  It was a beautiful moment to be still and connect with each other. 

We last met Kobe in Taiwan in November of 2019, and we are excited to announce we now have extensive updates to his file! Kobe is described as a sweet child who helps other children wipe their chairs and tables and is always ready to help his caregivers. We also know that he is a very curious boy who is quick to ask questions.

Going into the adoption process, I knew very little about how the process worked. One such area was with respect to birth mothers, who I now know are selfless, courageous, and steadfast women. Simply put, I unfairly assumed a birth mother must be an unfit mother, without ever even having met one myself. It was wrong of me to do so, and I would be proven wrong with all three of our daughters’ birth mothers.

Meet sweet Alyssa. Alyssa is 2 and a half years old. She has a quiet personality and likes to be cuddled. She has a ready smile and giggle, and rarely cries. Alyssa loves listening to music and enjoys sounds spoken to her. Alyssa is able to turn her head side to side while lying on her stomach and can raise her head and chest momentarily with forearm support. Recently she has been attempting to lift her body off the bed by moving her shoulders. You go Alyssa!