The Eiselts – A Family Bound Together Through Love

From the beginning, Mike and Peggy Eiselt knew they wanted a big family. Mike, the oldest of seven and Peggy, the youngest of 12, wanted to start their family right away. “We tried for five years to start a family biologically and had no success,” shared Peggy. Four years into their marriage, they started the adoption process.

Mike and Peggy adopted their first daughter Sidney domestically in July of 2000. Sydney’s birth mother had been 8 months pregnant when she met Mike and Peggy.

“When we met Sidney’s birth mom and grandma, we had an instant connection with them. We visited with them for an hour and a half and we wished her luck and went on our way.” Mike shares that now, “they’re part of our family.”

Jordan, the second oldest of the five children, was also adopted domestically. “Jordan is half Guatemalan ‘half Minnesotan’ as he calls himself- or did several years ago,” Peggy laughed. Jordan joined the family after his birth mother selected the Eiselts after deciding she wanted him to having a sibling. “After this, we realized it might be more difficult for us to adopt domestically because we already had to children,” shared Peggy.

A Journey to Guatemala

With Mike’s father had done some mission work in Guatemala and Jordan’s birth mother being Guatemalan, the Eiselts felt that it was a natural choice to turn to. International Adoption brought in Jackson, Sierra, and just as the program was closing -Cameron. Mike and Peggy were notified that the program was closing just weeks after they brought home their youngest daughter. “We were literally changing diapers and filling out our dossier,” shared Mike. Now a family of seven, the Eiselt family is proud to be a family built through adoption.

With the oldest two children, Sidney and Jordan, having open adoptions, the have a relationship with their birth mothers. The entire family was invited to both Jordan and Sidney’s birth mother’s wedding. Sidney, who was seven at the time was in her birth mother’s wedding and Jordan walked his birth mother down the aisle.

The Eiselts cherish their family – and so does their extended family. Peggy’s niece, a twin with dark features, feels she looks the most like Sydney despite their contrasting appearances. “That’s the beautiful thing about adoption, people don’t see the differences, they see a family.” Looking to her kids with tears in her eyes, Peggy said, “It’s hard to imagine I didn’t give birth to you because you’re apart of me- you just are.”