Personal Experience
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Alexander’s Story- Part 3 : Finding his Birth Mom
Most of my personal stories that I share here have happened in the past, so it’s really fun for me to tell you about Alexander’s story because it is happening in the present! We have had a few developments in his story since the last post about his court finalization. As you know, we are BIG fans of open adoptions, and are thankful everyday for the relationship we have with Jonathan’s birth mom. She only lives a few hours away from us so it is easy to plan a few visits every year along with emailing and texting. Alexander’s birth mom lives in the Marshall Islands. We have never met…
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Jonathan’s Story – Part 1 : Meeting a Birth Mom for the First Time
I’m not sure which day I officially became a mom. Was it the day Jonathan was born? Was it the day his birth mom signed the adoption papers? Or was it the day Jeron and I brought our precious baby boy home? Which ever one it is, there was a long road that led up to that day. I had some health problems that resulted in a surgery that I almost didn’t survive, we went through a year of trying to get pregnant the “normal” way, followed by a year of infertility tests. But the story of how we became Jonathan’s parents begins with a phone call from the doctor,…
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Alexander’s Story – Part 2 – Adoption Finalization
Oh, Happy Day! On September 18, 2018 we went to court to finalize the adoption of Alexander! For reasons I can’t even explain, I was extremely nervous to appear in court and speak to the judge. I am pretty shy by nature, but I don’t remember being so nervous when we went for Jonathan’s finalization. But nervous or not, it was a beautiful experience and a beautiful day! We had so much support from family and friends. I am so grateful to each and every person who came with us. The judge even commented that he loved seeing so many family members present. That warmed my heart soooooo much! I…
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What You Need to Know About a Home Study
Wondering what a home study is? You are not alone! Adoption is wonderful and beautiful and NOT for the faint of heart. Once you’ve decided that you are going to adopt you are bombarded with information and choices and paperwork and course work. You will be asked to divulge your yearly income, your preference on gender and race for your future baby. You will have someone come to your home, inspect it, and question you and your ability to care for a child. That last part is what I want to focus on today. The ominous home study. What is a Home Study? Let’s start with the basics. In short,…
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Why I Named my Blog The Whispering Leaf
I often get asked why I named a blog about adoption The Whispering Leaf. So today I thought I would share some of my deepest feeling about adoption, and why I felt the name The Whispering Leaf was so perfect. But first let me ask you some questions. “Do you feel the need to whisper when talking about adoption?” and if so, “Why?” For us, it all began with the adoption of our first son, Jonathan. The minute people learned that we had adopted a baby, they wanted to share how adoption had touched their life. Some of these people I had known for a long time, while others were…
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Why We Chose an Open Adoption Plan
One of the first things Jeron and I talked about when first began our adoption journey was whether or not we would comfortable with an open adoption plan. Our first, and very uneducated, opinion was that we really hoped to have a closed adoption. We knew that open adoptions were becoming more popular (for a good reason) but didn’t know anyone who had personally experienced it. And we definitely didn’t understand it. The idea of having a relationship with the birth mom scared me to death! I didn’t want her to be hanging around and judging me. What if she thought I was a bad mom to her child? What…
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Alexander’s Story – Part 1
Today is a big day at our house! Three months ago, our baby boy, Alexander, was placed into our arms. Because of the circumstances of his adoption, we had to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement with the attorney handling the adoption. One of the things that we were not allowed to do was post any pictures or words relating to the adoption or Alexander on any social media platform for three months. Which seems like no big deal, but it has been WAY harder than I thought it would! I mean come on! We just got a baby that we had been waiting for over 2 years! I wanted to shout it…
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A Brief History of Me
Photo by @samijo_loves_you Hi! I can’t wait to tell you about myself and my family! So, let’s jump right in. My name is Becky Larsen and I am the author of The Whispering Leaf. I am currently a stay at home mom with 2 amazing boys! Before we adopted them, I was a microbiologist. I have my Bachelor’s Degree in Microbiology with a Minor in Chemistry, and a Master’s Degree in Food Science with an emphasis in Food Microbiology – think food safety and probiotic development. I worked as a research scientist for many years before we were able to start a family. It was very rewarding and I…
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My Wishes
The past few years have been a crazy roller coaster ride – and somewhere along the way I began pondering about starting a blog…this blog. A place to share my life experiences on the amazing journey of adoption. I do this with two wishes in my heart, to connect and to help. I wasn’t sure how I wanted to approach this, but decided that I was going to speak to you all like you are already my close friends. Throughout our experience of infertility and adoption we kept everyone, even very close family members, at a distance. My goal is to talk to you the way I wish I would have…
