Adoption…You Can Do It Too!!!
Greetings Viral Video Searchers
Hi. My name is Carlos.
I am the proud father of Sohaila, Seanna, and Losiah.
We went to get Losiah in 2006 and my life will never be the same.
Since many thousands of you have made it over here from various search engines I thought I would introduce you to my sons story…
There are many children waiting for amazing parents like you.
Adoption is not only an option…it is a blessing.
I hope you consider it and thanks for stopping by!!!
Holt International was amazing in their role as our agency. Click here to find out more…
How many of you have adopted or have ever considered it?
Los
RAIN IT DOWN
Not putting my name out there because we haven’t told anyone yet and it’d be a bad thing to spill it here first. But it’s something God has laid on our hearts and we’re moving in that direction. I can’t wait to hold the child God chose for me before the existence of time.
Oh Prudence. How similar you and I are in our walk! How come we haven’t met prior to just a few weeks ago when we stumbled on each others’ blogs?!
I too am not ready to put my real name. When my husband was deployed to Iraq, he said, “we’ll try again when I get home.” He’s been home 8 months, no pregnancy. We’ve been trying for 10.5 years now. I told him I don’t know how much more my heart can take. We decided to start the process of adoption in the next few months. I leave it in God’s hands. Blessing to all.
I have had custody of my grandson, Shayne, since he was born. The final adoption was two years ago. He is 6 years old and the most awesome kid I have ever known!
Was so shocked this afternoon when I viewed some random video and, first, saw Losiah, then second, heard your voice. SO thrilled to see that you are taking the quick national exposure and using it for good by posting the Adoption Video. In this week of great celebration and thankfulness, my hat is off to you dear friend……even if we aren’t actually acquaintances. You rock for God…..thanks! All my best, Daren Painter (Molly’s brother)
You rock for putting this on the top of your blog when you’ve got a viral video brewing and a ton of fly-by visitors. Seriously. YOU ROCK.
(Mom to two amazing sons through adoption)
Hilarious. watching the events unfold on twitter this afternoon over the hooplah of your video…when you posted it, Monday, Dale showed me it and we laughed outloud…gotta love those parenting moments! I’d'a said the same thing too! I just showed my coworkers and they laughed too…
anyways…Dale and I cannot wait to adopt someday. We are just beginning the story of our family, we have one son, 18 months, and we dream about it and have started planning to adopt a sibling set from Africa…someday.
Thank you for living authentically online for us to see. You rock.
(**Can’t wait to buy the album!)
All this madness is insane! Love that you are flipping it for the good. Adoption is amazing people!
We just adopted our youngest daughter from China last October. You’re right. It’s not just an option, it’s a blessing. A miracle even. We actually just had to have her undergo open heart surgery to repair a hole in her heart. It’s an honor to know that God allowed us to be part of that healing of the hole in her physical heart. We’re praying for the even greater honor of watching Jesus heal the hole in her spiritual heart as He has for us.
I’ve got photos of our little Tori at http://doerrstops.blogspot.com
Russ & I are doing foster-care training right now. We also want to adopt – domestically & internationally. Just waiting for the green light.
PS – LOVE LOVE LOVE that you are showing this video on your blog. You and Heather are one of the couples who really got me thinking about adoption about a year ago. I sat for over an hour, watching little Los’ story through youtube. Thanks for being such a blessing.
Sorry. I’m sooooo not a spammer, but realized that perhaps a more appropriate link for this post thread would be the one for our video of meeting Tori. Probably easier than sorting through all the posts in our family blog. Here goes:
http://gallery.me.com/rhexalt#100040
Again, sorry for the spamming. Just love my girl.
Good for you for taking advantage of this craziness and posting Losiah’s story on your blog. Hopefully lots of people will get to see it based on all the traffic you are probably getting!
We have 2 girls. Erika, adopted from Vietnam in 2002, and Sarah, adopted from China in 2005. They are now almost 7 and 8 years old. We used Childrens Hope International both times. Our girls are so sweet and precious to us!
I, like so many others, saw the video and I was so taken with your loving response to your boy and your heartfelt sorrow that you had made him cry. What a loving daddy. Then to go on and read that you are adoptive parents AND then to find you are using this “15 minutes of fame” to spread the word about adoption. Well? What can I say, I am heart melted!
Our youngest boy is adopted and while it hasn’t been an easy journey for us, he has a lot of problems, both medical, mental and behavioral, there is not one minute I regret it. Thanks for all you are doing!
Absolutely loved how you responded when you saw Los was getting upset. I would and have done the same thing with my son. Loved it even more when I saw that you are a proud adoptive parent and using this to spread the word.
I too adopted and have been blessed with an amazing son (May 2009). I was fortunate to be able to assist in his delivery, stay with him in the hospital and bring him home with me.
I am forever grateful to the birth mother for creating a life plan for my Quinn and allowing me the joy of motherhood.
We met at your lovely bride’s blog party about a year and a half ago, or has it been 2 and a half years already? Amy and I traveled to China in March, 2009 and returned with LynnMarie ChunAi Christopher who was ust over one year old. It has been an amazing year. She is our fist child.
My husband and I are in the process of adopting a little girl from Peru. Hopefully she will come home this summer. We are using Lifeline as our agency.
The thing I love most about adoption, is that if we are “in Christ” we too have been adopted as sons.
Beautiful!
Well, thanks to blogs like yours, we ordered an adoption information kit on Monday to prayerfully consider adopting a child from our Canadian foster care system. So, yes, we’re considering adoption and time will tell if we do…
We’ll be watching you on the morning show! Hope your kids behave
We brought our precious little girl home from China 3 1/2 months ago….we will never be the same.
Love the video, Carlos. Awesome.
We brought Milo home from Ethiopia about a year ago. It has been and continues to be an amazing journey.
It was pretty eye-opening and encouraging how common adoption is as we got into it. Almost everybody we talked to had some sort of connection to adoption. It was great.
Adopt! I think too many people over think adoption. People pray about it their whole lives and never do it. It is pretty evident that orphans are close to God’s heart. I can tell you I didn’t honestly understand a HUGE part of the Gospel (an heir of Christ, a son of the King) until my wife and I adopted our amazing daughter from Rwanda, Africa.
i tell people all the time they are asking the wrong questions. Instead of asking why should we adopt…it should be why SHOULDN’T we!!
Your adoption series of videos is how I first found you and Heather. I’m still following your blogs. Continue to do God’s work!
Our first adoption was our son, Brighton. He passsed away in his orphanage before we could bring him home.
Our second adoption brought us our daughter, Meron. Love of our life.
We are currently two months in to the wait for referral for our 3rd child. Simply can’t wait.
God absolutely shows up in adoption. And He holds you and cradles you and makes it perfect. I never felt closer to Him in my life than when we lost our son.
Simply amazing…
We brought our daughter, Mihret, home from Ethiopa in September of last year. I had no idea how much our lives would be blessed by our beautiful girl!
Praying for the MILLIONS of orphans who NEED LOVING FAMILIES! Who knows? Maybe one of those families is considering adoption for the very first time because of THIS POST and a video that’s gone viral! That’s pretty amazing!
My husband and I really want to adopt because I can not have anymore children, we have a 4yr old girl.Are problem is that it so expensive to adopt.
Hey Emmaly – most states offer legally free adoption through the foster care system. You should check it out!
We adopted through foster to adopt 4 years ago. We met our little guy (who’s now 5) when he was 8 months old and that first second we saw his picture he was immediately ours
We went through a private agency to adopt so there was some cost with that (for ours like $500-700 but nothing compared to other adoption costs) but that agency also took care of all legal things and did our homestudy, etc. etc. etc.
I can’t recommend adoption enough. Our little guy is 100% ours and I can’t even imagine life without him. Such an amazing blessing.
I am the mom of two kids adopted from South Korea. I agree that adoption has been a blessing in my life, but would caution that you need to look at it from both sides. To say that it gives a kid a “second chance” is not always accurate and is offensive to many – especially adoptees themselves. I encourage you to take a look at the work of adult Korean Adoptees like Jane Trenka. Check all the blogs by adult adoptees and see the issues they are facing. Be sure that you understand the importance of providing your kids with the knowledge and love of their birth culture- when you adopt a Korean kiddo you become Korean too and need to bring that into your home. Also, know that many adult adoptees, adoptive parents and Koreans are working to end International adoption… kids should be raised by their birth mothers whenever possible. Our kids who are adopted weren’t in need of a “second chance” – their birth mothers were in need of support from their culture/community in order to keep them and raise them. If you read any of the adult blogs or watch some of the documentaries by adult adoptees searching for their birth families you will find that many have a very different experience with Holt.
If you are thinking of adopting, don’t do it to “give a kid a second chance”. Do it because you want to be a parent and love a child. Do it because you can embrace completely another culture and make it your own in order to give it back to your children.
What a great testimony you have bro. Thanks for sharing, love your blog. My wife and I just finalized our adoption of 4 year old twins on March 17th!
we have adopted 5.
(we are the family that ran into your family at the old navy in franklin earlier this year.) we love your video….we keep watching and laughing….but what a blessing that it is also bringing attention to the fact that there are so many children out there in need of a family. 
We adopted our daughter from China on March 17th, 2008. She’s home 2 years and a light and joy in our home. Our daughter was considered “special needs” but is as bright, healthy and happy as any child, if not more so. I would encourage anyone considering adoption to consider the “special needs” child. Many of the “special needs” do not affect the child’s overall health, some kids are misdiagnosed and do not really have one, and others whose needs are more obvious are still amazing kids who deserve a home and family and would be a great blessing. That is why I put the term “special needs” in quotes, because the label does not define portray the actual child correctly. Do not let the label scare you.
I don’t quite know how I happened upon this video but I ended up watching the whole thing. It was so real and powerful…..and adorable. Thank you for sharing!
We have 3 grown kids and we have adopted 3 girl’s from China. They are a huge blessing! People say they are so lucky to have you but we are the lucky ones!
Thank you for sharing this! I have such a heart for adoption and I know that God chose Losiah for your family!
no, you are not “a horrible father”
My husband and I plan to adopt. We are trying to become debt free right now and then save the money up to pay for an adoption in full, so it will be several years, sadly. But we are going to do it. It will be our first child. Hopefully the first of many.
One day God spoke to me from Galatians 3:28 in a unique way “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” God showed me a family that was all different. Black, White, Asian, African, Latin, Indian, but we were all one in Christ. Ever since then it has been a dream of mine to adopt several children from many different nations.
Today was our court date in Addis Ababa. If all has gone well, we will go and pick up our son in several weeks. There’s nothing like the journey of adoption! This will mark the conclusion of a lifelong dream for my wife and has opened my eyes to Kingdom of God sized things I never dreamt were possible.
rock on! my wife and i have two boys of our own, but have not ruled out adopting … you know, since the snip.
I know first-hand how adoption changes lives – my life started with adoption. My parents adopted me when i was just 6 or 8 weeks old, and that was one of the biggest blessings in my life. Nine years later we got my only sibling (sister) through another adoption.
But one of the best things I can say is that I have never had the feeling of being that “adopted” kid, or that my sister is that “other” kid that adoptions sometimes get stereotyped as.
We may do it ourselves – we’ll see what God has for us.
I’ve wanted to adopt even when I was a kid myself. As I’m not married yet, it isn’t going to happen yet…but my future husband better be ready ;D
My husband and I started sponsoring two children through Compassion International last month. Through that, God has began to place it on our hearts to hopefully adopt one day. I’m praying that if this is God’s plan for us, He will make it clear and He will provide. We’ve only been married a little over a year, but I pray that adoption is in our future!
I really enjoyed watching your story of bringing your son home with you. My husband and I have always talked about adopting internationally, and this re-energized me in that process. Looking forward to traveling someday to bring sons and daughters home with us from around the world.
adopt adopt adopt!
i remember the start of your adoption journey and following along then… and now re-reliving it makes me appreciate your journey and that you took the time to record it for us!
we adopted sammy 1.5 years ago and it’s been a JOY to call him our own! I’d have adopted any kid from just about anywhere if it weren’t for some cultural hang-ups our parents had about adoption. but, it made it “easier” that we, as Koreans, ended up adopting a Korean kid.
adopt. do it. it’s amazing!
Los, thank you for sharing your video and your heart!
May God touch you and hold you close! May He spark your heart and continue to move you!
Tokyo is in Japan….not Korea.
Cute kid, tho!
Los,
All our chillen’s are adopted. All domestically, and all but one have been open. Our oldest is 8 and he’s caucasian, our middle is almost 6 and he’s african american and our soon to be youngest, is asian indian. Back in November, my wife and I had the amazing opportunity to adopt embryos, she had 3 implanted and one took, she and the baby are doing great and she’s due in early August. Our story has been amazing and I wouldn’t trade it for the whole world!
Peace,
E
Found your blog from your YouTube video. Have watched it repeatedly – cracks me up! I have a sensitive kid like that too so I know how easy that trip wire is. In fact, she’s also my internationally adopted child – from China. Always happy to see other familes that look like mine.
God bless!
I myself was adopted from India when I was 6-months-old. Having no biological family, I’ve always wanted (God willing) to have at least one biological child of my own. Other than that, I’m all for adoption. I’m looking forward to have a ethnically diverse family someday.
I know people have many fears about adopting and how the child will feel about it when they grow up, but I can honestly say that I have NEVER had any negative feelings about being adopted.
We adopted domestically and my son is the greatest blessing of my life. Everyone should adopt or at least know the wonder & the blessing of it. It’s amazing and it’s so great to know a little more what it means to be adopted into our Father’s family. We hope to adopt again and do more to start adoption funds & promote adoption to others!
Carlos,
I’ve been reading your blog and tweets for sometime, partly because you adopted. My wife and I have felt God’s calling to adopt a child for a few years now. Please pray for us that God would provide the means to allow us to do so.
Saw your video on YouTube and loved it! God has blessed us with eight kids, six of them are adopted (4 domestically and 2 from Ethiopia). Thanks for promoting adoption. More people need to hear how wonderful adoption is not only for the kids but for the parents as well!
Hey Carlos,
Thanks for bringing adoption to the forefront. I really hope that adoption becomes more than just what people do when they can’t have biological kids, but something that we do as a people because we love children and want them to experience God’s love for them. We’ve adopted five. Starting on number six. It’s not easy, but it is rewarding!
When I was younger I used to watch adoption stories on the Discovery Health channel and TLC and I decided then that I wanted to adopt children. At that time I was considering only adopting and not having my own, but now that I’m older I wouldn’t mind having kids of my own. But I still plan to adopt. Probably especially when I’m older after my own kids have grown up. I may be a full time foster parent or adoptive parent to kids who are less likely to be adopted. I think it’s so important. Everyone has an opinion about pro life vs. pro choice, but no one seems to care about the children who are already here. I think it’s a wonderful thing that you adopted your son and that you want to bring more awareness to adoption. God bless your family. And the single ladies video is too cute
Loved seeing your story and then finding out he was internationally adopted. My daughter is from Russia.
Thanks for the “Single Ladies” clip, and for spreading the word about international adoption. It really is a blessing. It’s been six years since that last cold trip to Russia to bring my daughter home.
Thanks for sharing with the world…adoption is an amazing thing…God always puts the right kids with the right families, no matter how He does it!
Omma to 3 wonderful kids, 2 Holt Korea babies and one homegrown one!
We are awaiting our referral from Ethiopia! Loved watching your video.
Carlos- thank you so much for spreading the word about international adoption. We adopted our son, Asa from Korea just over a year ago. You are right- it changes your life, for the better! When your ‘Single Ladies’ clip wouldn’t load for us, my wife was determined to find it someplace (she had already seen it) to show me your adoption story.
Thanks again, and God bless you and your family.
Neil
I don’t think I have ever watched your adoption videos- how cool!
We adopted Carmen three years ago from Guatemala. She has changed our lives forever in so many ways.
I love the adoption story. Yours and God’s and ours. I love that God gives us a way to see things on earth that trasnpire spiritually. As you adopted your son, so God adopted you into the family of God. LOVE that!
Wow. This had me totally blubbering. I used to foster cats and would cry every time I had to give one up to an adoptive home. Even though I knew I had to do it, it was so easy to get attached – I can only imagine how much more attached I would feel giving up a CHILD! You guys handled everything so well. I’m so glad to have found your website through all the “single ladies” video buzz. Your videos are truly inspiring and educational. I have been considering adoption for a while and your videos make me want to do it more than ever. You really help a lot of people make it look “do-able” and much less scary. Thanks so much!!!
This is great and your family seems lovely.
/ Sweden
Thank you for being a positive voice for adoption! We too are adoptive parents and have just launched http://www.onehundredgoodwishes.com, a FREE fundraising site for other adoptive parents who are interested in raising support for their adoptions! Adoption has blessed us beyond words and our hope is that this site will make adoption a possible option for more and more families! What a gift to build a family through adoption! Thank you!