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Cooper Family

 

Dawn Cooper is a 38 year old single parent of 4 girls living in Indiana, “I wanted to adopt my whole life but I didn’t understand the vastness of it until I was older.” Dawn’s girls are ages 12, 13, 16, and 18. She feels blessed to be the parent of these children. “Our Christmas tree was covered in white lights with pink decorations. We are 100% girls!”

In February of 2005, Dawn Registered with AdoptUsKids.org and began to learn about the children registered on the site. It was through the website that she was connected with Joy, currently 13 and placed in the Cooper family in December of 2005. “The AdoptUsKids website is wonderful.” Dawn said. “It makes the [search] process so much easier. The best part is that you get a direct contact [by making inquiries]!”

Dawn received her adoptive parent training through a local agency and gained important knowledge from those county-based sessions. “After the first session I remember breaking down and crying. They told me that you can’t expect the kids to love you back right away. That was important information which I have found to be very true during my parenting experience.”

Dawn realizes now that parenting is often about self-sacrifice and building a family is not always easy. She often relies on her faith and church community for support. Each night, the family recites a Bible verse together. Dawn laughs that when guests come to dinner, they “wonder if we will EVER eat” because many of the verses are lengthy.

The support Dawn and her family have received from public agencies has varied greatly. Dawn experienced frustration when her phone calls and emails were not returned promptly. Dawn speak of the difficulty she experienced keeping in touch with her caseworkers. In spite of the frustrations, Dawn say, “I love my children and even if I had known about the negative experiences beforehand, I would gladly do it again.”

Dawn worked cooperatively with a public agency in South Carolina for Joy’s placement. “When I gave them accolades and showed my appreciation they stood there dumbfounded. That is when it hit me . . . they believe they are just doing their job.”

Dawn’s biggest surprises have been both positive and negative. In support of the adoption process, her employer provided both time off work and monetary compensation to cover adoption fees. However, Dawn is disappointed that local post-adoption services are not readily available. She believes that families who have adopted should come together to encourage each other. After the placement of her 2 oldest girls Dawn comments, “I was totally left alone to fend for myself.” She now strongly encourages families to request all of the child’s background paperwork before the pre-placement visits begin.

Dawn and her girls are now adoption advocates. Her oldest daughters speak at trainings offered by organizations in their community. Dawn co-founded an adoption support group, The Indiana Post Adoption Network (IPAN), and was recently told that she and her children have been “instrumental” in guiding others in the adoption journey. “My daughters enjoy sharing our family story.”

Find out more how to adopt and how to foster.

Media who would like to interview the Cooper family, contact us at info@adoptuskids.org or 888-200-4005.