This is a big weekend for fathers and birth fathers everywhere, as we all celebrate Father’s Day on Sunday. This week we will be sharing stories from adoptive father’s and birth father’s, as well as the “Number One Father/Father Figure” contest and “Embarrass your father” day on Wednesday, where we’re inviting you to post funny photos of your father or husband on our Facebook page.
Today we share the adoption journey of John and his wife Amanda. John and Amanda adopted their son Henry in October, and John said it felt like “the natural step” to add to their family, after Amanda gave birth to their daughter 3 years earlier.
“For us adoption was a natural step in what we wanted to do,” John said. “My wife’s brother was adopted, and I have a cousin who was adopted. It was something we were familiar with, and something my wife was comfortable with.”
Though she may have been too young to fully understand the situation, John and Amanda spoke with their daughter about the adoption process and how they were looking to bring home a sister or brother for her.
“It was something we were very open about. Not in the specifics of the adoption profiles, but in talking to her about the process of adoption and looking for her brother or sister,” John said. “Adoption was always apart of our conversation, so we didn’t have to sit her down and tell her we were going to do this, it was just natural.”
John said that he appreciates having two children, and loves seeing them interact as brother and sister. He said that with one child, you are focusing all of your efforts on making sure they are happy, and adding a second child has meant navigating the “up and downs of their relationship” with each other.
“It’s a lot more rewarding with the both of them because of the way they interact with each other,” John said. “Henry just started to crawl and is following his sister around. It’s very easy for her to get him to smile. It’s very nice to see how good she is with him, and how he reacts so positively to her.”
While brother and sister may enjoy spending time together now, John said he and Amanda are prepared for surprises and that brother and sister may not always be so close as they go through their teen years.
“I’m curious to see the people they develop into and how they grow as individuals. I’m very curious to see them as they get older and become independent, and develop their own skills,” John said. “We’re pretty down-to-earth people, and I think in general we try to spend time together and do things together, but obviously in the teen years, things will come up that will surprise us.”
For Father’s Day this year John said that they are going to take the kids to the Juneteenth Festival in Buffalo, and spend the day with family.
Happy Father’s Day John!