Atwood family adoption journeys

                           Photo provided by Magan Atwood
Magan and David Atwood with their son, Ben.

            Benjamin Atwood’s nursery decorations incorporate the Bible verse, Jeremiah 29:11, which says, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” His parents, Magan and David Atwood, want him to know that he is important to them and God has a plan for his life.             
              Magan is the Director of Appalachian Ministries and Associate Campus Minister at University of the Cumberlands and Dave is a 7th grade math teacher at Whitley Middle School in Williamsburg, Ky. They’ve been married for seven years, adopted Ben 19 months ago and plan to adopt sometime next year.
             “We have always known that we wanted a big family and we always envisioned that mainly to be through adoption,” said Magan, “We just really felt like God was saying go for it again.”
             The Atwoods used Faithful Adoption Consultants, a referral service, to search for adoption agencies. According to Magan, the consultants walked alongside them during the process and lessened the anxiety.

              Ben’s situation was presented to the Atwoods after six other cases of adoption didn’t work out for different reasons. The consultants presented the Atwoods’ profile, an autobiographical letter, to the birth mother. They had 10 days to get ready after the birth mother accepted their profile. The adoption process took seven months and they didn’t have a nursery, yet.

                                            Photo provided by Magan Atwood
The Atwood family.

             The Atwoods were there for the birth of their first son. Magan held the birth mom’s hand and Dave stayed to the side and prayed. The doctors and nurses knew the situation so they handed the baby to Magan immediately. Magan wanted to help the birth mom during her grieving process, but she was also full of joy because she had waited and prayed for the child for so long and he was finally in her arms. 
             “[I was] standing in the room and wanting to be in both places,” said Magan.
             Ben is thriving well with the Atwoods after 19 months. They’re enjoying the easier stage of his life when he doesn’t notice that his skin color is different from his parents. When he starts asking questions about why his birth mom gave him up, they’re ready and willing to support Ben and be there for him emotionally.
             As they prepare to adopt their next child, the Atwoods are beginning to raise funds and pray during the rest of 2014. The paperwork and home visits will start in the spring of 2015. This year, they’re raising the money by selling t-shirts, scarves and having yard sales. The t-shirts are also a way for them to advocate for and educating about adoption.
            “We both pray that our child or children won’t look like us because we want people to ask us questions,” said Magan. “I don’t think you can talk about adoption without talking about the Gospel. We want to educate people about adoption and it just segues right into what God has done for us.”