Gladney Blog

The 2018 TCS New York City Marathon is coming up on November 4th. Between now & then, we'll be introducing you to Gladney's charity runners.

The Beginning

It started in Can Tho, Vietnam when I was placed into a baby home 9 days old until I was two. As I was living in the orphanage for those two years my adopted parents were searching for a child to adopt. It’s crazy to think how I got adopted because I knew they really were looking to adopt a Chinese girl until the adopted agency told them that they have a bunch of Vietnamese kids waiting to be adopted. They’ve told me the story many times and I can still recall it till this day. They received the video, and both of them watched the video separately to see if they would pick the same kid out of the video that they would want and as crazy as it is to think both of my parents picked me. They said that I was the biggest kid and most energetic, so it was easy to point me out, and I still carry those traits today. I have no memory on my travel from Vietnam to the United States, but I’ve definitely been told that I was very scared and confused. I mean, who wouldn’t be confused when coming to a new home?

How do you define "family"?

Gladney Adoptee, Zhanna, shares her definition with us:

I love to say that I’m from Fort Worth, Texas, even though I only lived here for two weeks after I was born. Another thing I love to tell people is that I was found in a newspaper. This one always throws people off and then I have to explain that my parents placed an ad in various newspapers stating that they were looking to adopt, and that I wasn’t actually found wrapped up in the newspaper. After speaking, briefly, with different birth mothers and birth fathers, my dad spoke with my birth mother who was willing to travel to Texas to finish out her pregnancy and place her baby (me) for adoption. At this point neither my birth parents nor adoptive parents knew if they would be matched with one another or with other families, BUT… they ended up being matched and now I have one giant family.

This year, my thoughts of fatherhood are intertwined with the concept of sonship. What does it mean to be a son (or daughter)? Being a father is about the relationship. The same is true for being a son. Just as my father’s relationship with me defines him as a father, my relationship with him is what makes me his son.

The crew on my birthday

As I was putting my son to bed one night recently he asked me something to the effect, “Daddy why did you adopt me?”  If you have an adoption story you have likely heard or will hear this question many times.  I have answered this question before but this time I gave it a different thought.  See we had also just come off our third adoption and I kind of sensed the question is really more about why did you do this or need to do this?  

So I told my son as honestly as I could that we did not need to adopt him or his sisters to his surprise. As I explained, because when you need something it is more of an act of instinct, or survival so the satisfaction in the act is limited. No, when I thought about his question, I smiled and told him, “Buddy, I wanted you!” I chased after you with all the love of my heart for you and your sisters. All the long nights of paperwork, and worry.  All the driving around and chasing the next authentication or deadline, was not something I needed to do but I wanted to do. 

I wanted and chased after all my children as one who loves with reckless abandonment until that day when I had my children in my arms and peace settled into the deepest part of my soul.   That moment happened a year ago last Father’s day, after a long trip to bring home my precious daughter, we just happened to have Father’s day weekend as our first weekend home. As we sat around the table having lunch, an overwhelming feeling hit me and turned to my wife and said, “This is right, this is what we were meant to be as a family”.   

My little ones, my loves, you completed me that Father’s Day and every Father’s Day for all time.

- Written by a 3x Gladney dad, Dwight Richmond

My name is Tessa, and I’m a Gladney Sibling. If I had to describe myself in three words, I would choose determined, creative, and independent.

Southwest Airlines created a cute commercial showing an adoptive couple running around the story buying baby paraphernalia. Their campaign was "Behind Every Seat is a Story." Check out the video below:

Our Adoption Story

This dream has been 6 years in the making. I don't regret our struggle because as a couple it made us more honest, our faith grew significantly, and it gave such an amazing opportunity to experience the love and compassion of other people. But mostly I don't regret it because without that experience we wouldn't have the child that God always meant for us to have.

Today the Gladney Team had the privilege to watch the beautiful adoption story of Frank and Stacy. We asked our Gladney Family to share their photos from the moment they first met their child #GladneyInstaLove.