Our Paths Crossed - The BEAUtiful Story of Two Sons

I realized that though many of you know the story of our adoption process and how we found our Magnus, there are probably many of you who haven't heard it. It's a pretty amazing story so I'm happy to share!

Early on in our dating years, Mike and I talked about adopting. We didn't know from what country but we thought having two biological children and adopting our third sounded like a great family plan. We lived a happy little life with our Anya and knew it was time to add to the Duff clan. What we didn't know was that God wanted us to exponentially grow and blessed us with our twins, Juliette and Eliza. The first thing I said after being told we were having twins at our doctor's office was "how are we going to adopt now?" We agreed to suspend the discussion for several years and just survive our crazy new lifestyle. And I mean "survive"!

In July 2014 after many discussions, we decided to start the adoption process in the next year. I researched like crazy, joined FB groups and listened to teleconferences and webinars. We chose Holt International as our agency and submitted our application on Easter Sunday, April 5, 2015. Our home study was delayed by three months but once we started, we flew through it (our social worker is amazing!).

After looking at all of the country programs throughout the world, we settled on South Korea, China and Bulgaria, in that order. New regulations had been passed in South Korea changing the process and different program elements so we turned to China. There are two paths to take with Chinese adoptions - the healthy child route which is about an 8 year wait right now and the special needs route which is usually 12-24 months. We felt strongly that we had the resources to help a special needs child, specifically a cardiac child. Just as we both had been called from God to adopt, we both realized that God was also calling us to a child with cardiac issues. Most people thought we were crazy but we knew with conviction that this is the path He was leading us to take.

So we decided to be matched by our agency which means they receive files of children and find a good match to what special needs, age range, gender fit your profile. As the months passed on and we worked hard on mounds and mounds of paperwork, I happened upon a blog post from a China adoptive mama. She is an advocate for finding children their forever families. I read her blog several times a week and this particular post stopped me in my tracks. She included a photo of a BEAUtiful baby boy who desperately needed heart surgery. He was not going to have it in China so there was an urgent need to get him to the US.

First pic of BEAUtiful Anthony

I went to his agency's web site to read more about him and two pictures away was our Magnus. He had a pink blanket behind his head and he was so gorgeous that I thought he was a girl. He actually took my breath away and I gasped out loud. As I looked at his temporary name, Forrest, I realized he was in fact a he and not a she.

First picture of our pretty-in-pink Magnus

I asked Mike if I could request both beautiful boys' files from the agency, WACAP. Surprisingly, he said yes and I called right away. We received both files the following day, September 5th, and we decided to open up Magnus's first. There was something about him that I was completely drawn to, like I already knew he was our son. Mike felt the same way. His diagnoses were super scary and much more complex than we initially thought we could handle. But it didn't matter. We cried many tears over Mags's file and decided he was ours and chose not to open the other BEAUtiful boy's file. We knew we would want him as our son as well and knew it wasn't possible to adopt two serious heart babies at once.

BEAUtiful Anthony

WACAP had named him Anthony and my heart broke for this gorgeous boy. As we had Magnus's file reviewed by multiple doctors, Anthony was always on my heart. I prayed time and time again for him and wondered if his family had found him. The doctors reviewing Magnus's medical files suggested that we needed to get him to the US quickly so we requested to expedite his adoption and switched agencies so now we were a WACAP family. Both US Immigration and the Chinese governing body over adoptions accepted our request and we were in China on January 5th...exactly 9 months from when we submitted our initial application and exactly 4 months from receiving Magnus's file. It all happened at warp speed!

Last pic of our sweet boy 

before we brought him home

You know the story of our Chinese journey from this blog so I'll pick up in April. Now you haven't forgotten about BEAUtiful Anthony, right?! A China heart mama posted a pic of her son, BEAU, asking for prayers for his surgery the following day. She posted an adorable picture of him and he looked familiar. I thought maybe he could be "Anthony" but I had never seen his face with a smile and this little one had a smile from ear to ear. I private messaged her to send our prayers and included a picture of Magnus so she saw our little heart warrior who would also have open heart surgery soon. She wrote back instantly saying, "I cannot believe this!" I was baffled as to what she was thinking. Through a flurry of messages back and forth, she told me that she knew Magnus from a year ago when he was listed with another agency. He had been listed with another agency after that so a total of 3 agencies. She and her godmother had prayed for him so often. She called WACAP in September to inquire about him. She was told he probably had a family but asked if she had seen "Anthony"? The rest is history and "Anthony's" family had finally found him! So BEAUtiful "Anthony" no more but BEAUtiful Beau! She said that she believed Magnus led her to Beau and that is exactly what we have said about Beau leading us to Magnus. Destiny!

Look what the love of a family does!

Beau had his surgery in April and recovered beautifully. Of course he did, it's in his name! We have remained in close contact and plan on meeting some day. I feel as if we are practically related and have such a strong bond to this wonderful woman. Her son was almost mine and my son was almost hers. It's like our sons are soul brothers! They couldn't be any cuter even if they tried!

I'm certain God put us on our paths, destined to cross, so that we may love each other and our sons!