Dear Family and Friends

As we prepare for the arrival of our daughter, Martin and I would like to thank you for all your continued love and support during our journey.  Your affection towards Olivia has been overwhelming.

Going through the process as you know our daughter would have gone through more changes and life altering experiences that most adults could handle.  We can imagine how much harder the changes will be for her.  While she may not consciously remember the events, she will still experience immense loss, including feelings of grief and trauma.  She will soon experience the loss of familar and comforting caretakers as well as the sights, smells, and language from her birth country.  Her world will turn upside down.  She will struggle with feeling safe and secure and she may lack the ablity to trust that we will meet her needs.

We have prepared to meet her emotional needs so that she does learn that we will always take care of her and we will always keep her safe.  We need your support.  In order to form a strong and healthy attachement we will allow her to regress so that she has the opportunity to go through all of the emotional stages with us.  Although it may appear that we are spoiling her and seem over-protective, we have been advised that it is best that we  meet every need quickly and consistently.  Until she has learned that we are her parents, we will need to be her primary caretakes at all times.  It is essential that we always hold her, feed her, and do all of the nurturing.  You may wonder how long this will take, but the timeline is different for every child.  We will follow her lead and trust our instincts as her parents rather that worry about what society expects.

We have all been waiting anxiously for our daughter to arrive but she has not been waiting for us.  She may show her grief and confusion in many ways and we are prepared to help her through it and prove that we are a forever family and this truly is her last stop.  We trust that as our family and friends you will help us to do what is best for our daughter, and we thank you in advance for your support and understanding.