Today, We Are Thriving

Curt and Angela’s adoption story starts after an infertility journey in 2011. “Hearing the doctor say ‘you will never have children’ made me say ‘excuse me?” said Angela. Soon after, Curt and Angela began a Domestic Infant program with another agency, but realized they may be on the wrong path. “I always knew that I had wanted to adopt internationally,” said Angela.

Originally, Angela and her husband shared fears of their ability to parent a child with special medical needs. However, after finding a little boy on the Rainbow Kids website who shared the exact same special need as Angela, her fears were eased. “Seeing that this little boy was on Rainbow Kids, and no one was coming to look for him made me say, ‘I can parent that, I can do that.” Finding this little boy is what eventually brought the couple to EVOLVE Adoption & Family Services.

Even after Angela and Curt learned that they did not meet the requirements to adopt this little boy, their hearts were now open to adopting a child with special needs. After updating their Domestic Infant home study to comply with international requirements, Angela and Curt heard of a baby girl from Colombia.

The little girl, who was living with a host family in Minnesota, had an array of medical needs and was returning to Colombia soon. Angela and Curt traveled to Colombia for 10 weeks to complete the adoption.

“It was a very long and intense 10 weeks, but looking back at it now, I feel like that was the time we needed to be present with her and to develop patience for what was to come, understanding better what her needs were,” shared Angela. “She was 1 of 52 people who had been born with this brain disorder.” Angela and Kurt received support from Juliana’s host parents and the FANA program.

In 2013, Angela and Kurt started another adoption journey, this time for a healthy infant. The Healthy Infant Program was closing and FANA did not want the family to consider another special needs child due to the needs of Juliana. Their dossier was accepted in January of 2014. Waiting all of 2014 with no luck, they instead received a wonderful offer from their sister-in-law who offered to carry a child for their family. Their son, Evan, was born via surrogacy in February of 2015.

“He is biologically our son, but we did have to adopt him on paper.” With the birth of their second child, the families’ dossier went on hold until one year later.

In July of 2017, the family received a referral for their third child, a healthy five-month-old little girl from Colombia.

In July of 2017, the family received a referral for their third child, a healthy five-month-old little girl from Colombia. This time around, the trip was much shorter. The entire family stayed in-country for just over three weeks, feeling as if it wasn’t enough time. After holding their daughter, Amelia, for the first time in September, they finally got to take her home in October of 2017.

For this family, adoption is something to be celebrated. “We celebrate ‘Gotcha Day” and Colombia’s Independance Day.” Angela also shared that her and her oldest daughter spend her “Gotcha Day” together and write what they did in Juliana’s adoption book every year.the family also speaks on panels and at their Church.

“My biggest advice to couples interested in adopting is finding your community, finding your support group,” shared Angela.

Now the Miller Family is thriving. “God picked these kids for our family…we always knew we were going to adopt.”