I was born in Alberta, and grew up with my adoptive parents. They were thrilled to welcome me into their family and a couple years later, adopted my sister Gillian. We had the most amazing childhood – and are an extremely tightknit family to this day. We share many special memories of family vacations, holidays, milestones and quiet movie nights. As an adoptee I can’t imagine feeling any different if they were my birth family. They are my family.
My parents were always very open about adoption. They took courses which gave the guidance to start telling us, so time doesn’t slip by and then there is never the right moment. My mom told us she would cuddle us and say ‘my sweet little adopted baby.’ My sister and I just always knew and were comfortable and confident to share this with others.
Even with our extremely close bond, I was still interested in learning about my birth parents. Being that I was placed in a closed adoption I requested my records. It was an emotional time as I learned information about my birth family, with support from my amazing adoptive mom. My birth mom did not want contact with me, but I connected with my birth dad and half sister, and we have continued to grow our relationship.
Choosing to adopt
As I had such a positive experience being adopted, my husband Steve and I always wanted to continue to grow our own family through adoption. Our first step was to reach out to Adoption Options. We met with Liz Gifford who was the international adoption program director at the time, now retired. She thought we were a great fit for the South Africa adoption program, which she commended for the exceptional foster care, thorough paperwork and processes. She also shared the staggering number of children waiting to be adopted in the country. After learning more, we agreed it was a great fit for our family and started the process.
Matching with Mikey
We submitted our dossier to South Africa in February 2023 and received a call with our match with Mikey on April 22, 2025. Our hearts were filled with joy as we excitedly prepared for our trip to South Africa. We adopted him from the Upper Highway Baby Home in Outerwest Durban. This wonderful family, who we now consider part of our extended family, gave him the best care and so much love until he joined us as his forever family on June 4, 2025. A quote was shared with us when we adopted Mikey, ‘You didn’t grow under my heart, you grew in it.’ It turns out my mom told me this same quote when I was growing up.
One special highlight was we shared our adoption and experience with another family from British Columbia who adopted their little girl at the same time – we also consider them family and were blessed to go through this journey together. We loved our time in South Africa. It will always be close to our hearts as we bring its culture, food and traditions into our lives. We can’t wait to visit again with Mikey and our family in the coming years.
For now though, we are enjoying settling in as a family in Canada and introducing Mikey to family and friends, we all adore him and he has been charming everyone with his radiant smile. It feels like he’s always been part of our family, his big sisters Eva and Maya love playing with and reading to Mikey. He also experienced snow for the first time, once he agreed to put on his snow pants. After stepping outside, he first had a puzzled look, and then pure joy as he made snow angels and played with his sister. The confusion came back for a second when he took off his mitten and picked up a handful of snow. He immediately shook it off saying ‘Ouchy, ouchy’ from the cold.
Amy