“His cute little smile was meant to be ours to love”

Because of donors, they know the joy of being parents

It was just a couple of months past Katie and Darrin’s wedding anniversary when they received the email from Wide Horizons with four photos of Korean children who needed homes.

Katie’s eyes locked on Gus right away. “There he was sitting in a little chair with the biggest smile on his face,” she recalls.

She and Darrin knew then: they needed to bring Gus home.

They were originally enrolled in Wide Horizon For Children’s domestic and Korean adoption programs, but once they saw Gus they knew it was a sign to move forward with his Korean adoption. They say they expected there to be some hurdles along the way — there always are — but COVID made the process more complex and costly. Instead of the standard two week-long trips to Korea to bring Gus home, they had to plan for one two-month trip due to quarantine rules.

The associated costs of a longer stay — from the Korean apartment rental to lost income from time off work — were challenging. Thankfully, adoption subsidies funded by donors help families bring their children home. Kids like Gus. “The donation we received was an amazing gift,” Katie says. “We cannot thank our donors enough as adoption already is very expensive for the average family, but adding on a worldwide pandemic in the middle of international adoption is even more!”

Gus is adjusting well to his new family, filling their home with laughter and love. And they plan to adopt another child soon.

“Even if the pandemic never existed, we truly feel that for every family who wants to adopt and be a parent, finances should not be the determining factor,” Katie explains. “Financial assistance is sometimes the life-saver for adopting a beautiful child and finally feeling the joy of being a parent.”