Family Stories
Creating families through the gift of adoption
Langdon and Terri Lindsey were nervous about the legal system and its procedures when they considered adopting a child from the foster care system.
“We wondered if we could handle it,” Langdon said. The couple adopted two girls – Sonja and Zoe – when they were 1 ½ years old. Their nerves quickly faded. “When we learned about children languishing in the system, we knew this was what we wanted to do,” Langdon said. “It’s been great.”
The family enjoys traveling – especially to the beach. The girls love gymnastics and horseback riding. “We looked into foreign adoption, but that takes so long and is so expensive,” Langdon said. “Adopting from foster care has worked out great. It’s a wonderful thing.”
Allison Smith called CHS in 2002 to offer her volunteer services. “I thought CHS was a home for children,” she said. “And I love children. My husband and I couldn’t have our own, but I thought how nice it would be to help them by volunteering.” Allison discovered that while CHS was not a home for children, it was the exact place she was looking for. She learned about the agency’s Partnership for Adoptions program, which places older children in foster care into permanent homes.
Allison and her husband, Michael, adopted 10-year-old Jonathan in April 2003, then Sarah, 12; Robin, 10; and Peter, 3, in 2004. “We felt if we were going to adopt, we wanted to give a home to a child who really needed it,” Allison said. In 2008, the Smiths decided to adopt again. “I was turning 40 and had never had a baby,” Allison said. “I figured I was too old. My husband surprised me with a trip to Rome for my birthday, and while we were there, we prayed about it.” Three weeks after returning home, CHS called to say a 2-month-old boy needed a family. The Smiths soon welcomed Joseph to their home. “Adoption has been a wonderful experience,” Allison said. “It has closed that hole that was in my heart. Our family is now complete.”
As a foster parent for five years, Michelle Samms provided hope and refuge to more than a dozen teenagers in need of a temporary home. Sharing her heart was easy. Saying goodbye wasn’t. “There were so many children going through my home. I wanted to give them a chance to stay,” she said.
In 2004, Michelle adopted her first child, Brijet, now 14. A few months later, she welcomed home Nishae, now 15. The family resides in Chesterfield County.“It’s been wonderful,” Michelle said. “I love being a parent. I really love knowing that when you give a child a home, you give them the chance to thrive.” A single mother, Michelle never questioned whether she should take on parenthood alone. “There were times when I was a foster parent that I didn’t have a placement,” she said. “I can’t even begin to explain the emptiness. It wasn’t right. Now, my home is full. Everything is right.”
K.C. and Trish Woller knew without a doubt that they would one day become parents. When they couldn’t conceive, they looked to adopt. “This was the path we were supposed to take,” Trish said.
The Gloucester County couple adopted Emily, now 13, and Ally, now 9, when the girls were infants. Married for 18 years, the Wollers are in the process of adopting a young boy from foster care. “Adoption is the right thing for us,” K.C. said. “ Being a parent brings with it a whole new set of circumstances and responsibilities. That’s a good thing.”
K.C. and his wife, who work as teachers, shared with their children early on that they were adopted. “There was never a time they didn’t know,” Trish said. “It is part of their story. It is part of who they are.” The Wollers can’t wait to welcome their third child home. “It’s really pretty simple,” Trish said. “We wanted to be parents, and there are so many children out there who need a home. Adoption is such a wonderful gift. It proves that you don’t have to be connected by blood to be family.”
Dorothy Bayford grew up in the projects in North Carolina surrounded by other disadvantaged children. “We lived in a car for a few years,” Dorothy said. “They didn’t really have foster care back then. What I vividly remember is sitting on the school bus going to school and passing by other children sitting on the front stoops of their homes. They had raggedy clothes and dirty faces. “I felt so much compassion for them. I said one day I was going to come back and help them.”
Thirty years later, those children are long grown. But Dorothy and her husband, Brian, are reaching out to others in need of a stable home. The Gloucester couple, the parents of five children through previous marriages, has adopted three children from the foster care system since 2002. Jana’e was 11 when she was adopted; Jazzmine, 10; and Cirrenety, 12.
“Brian and I felt so blessed to have five children already, but we knew there were other children out there who needed parents,” Dorothy said. “You have to have a strong faith in God and an amazing husband to share it with. “It also helps to have a good sense of humor.”