Courtney Thompson

After fighting infertility for 7 years and nothing working we took a leap of faith of becoming parents to children who needed us most and became foster parents!! It has been a rollercoaster of an adventure but we wouldn’t trade any of it! It’s been one of the best adventures in our life thus far!! My name is Courtney Thompson and my husband Eddie and myself became foster parents a little over 3 years ago. We were in a situation in our life where we knew we wanted to be parents but had many different cards dealt to us and were at a crossroads. Our path could have been to start IVF, look into domestic adoption, or become foster parents. We spent many nights talking our options out and praying about different scenarios in hopes we would choose the right path to take. People will ask why we chose the path to become foster parents rather than simply adopting and we always respond “We didn't, God knew these kids needed us whether it is for a short time or forever and he led us to where we were supposed to be”.

We have had many different placements in this short time of becoming foster parents but each placement is and was very different and holds very special places in our hearts. When we received our first placement it was a 1-month-old infant. The baby was an answer to our prayers. We just knew God sent this child to us and we were over the moon. Going into foster care we knew reunification is the ultimate plan for the children in care and we fully support that plan but let me tell you, you get attached and sometimes it's hard to remember that plan. This baby made me a momma and I couldn’t think of anything else other than they were ours. A couple of months went by and at one of our court hearings, we learned that the family had come forward and our little one would soon be reunified in a Kinship placement. Wow, I never in a million years thought this would happen but here we were sitting outside a courtroom numb. Fighting infertility and never getting the results you want month after month is a type of heartbreak many families are coming to know this day in time and I wished nobody ever had to experience it but this type of heartbreak that myself and my husband had just been hit with was something I could never prepare myself for. I was devastated and the grief was real. I felt as if I had no reason to continue because I was not meant to be a momma. It was awful and I had a hard time getting over this heartbreak and questioning why God would give me something I wanted so badly but take it away and leave me so brokenhearted. Family and friends and other foster parents comforted me and talked with me but nothing could take this pain away. After our placement moved on with family we took some time to heal from this heartbreak before accepting another long-term placement. We did a couple of respite weekends for other foster families and took in some children who just needed a bed for a night or two until family members could take them and honestly, we thought about calling it quits but something kept me going. I reached out to our placement coordinator a couple of months later to let them know we were ready for another long-term placement.  A couple of weeks went by and we hadn’t received a call. I told my husband well I guess maybe we just aren't meant to be parents, but the next day we got a call for 2 children. I was so excited I said yes before even discussing it with my husband. When I called to tell him I wished you could have heard his response, "Are you crazy? Two, what are we going to do?” I reassured him it was going to be ok and to remember this was God’s plan, not ours! That Friday came and the two kids were brought to our home. Oh my gosh they were the cutest kids I had seen and they won our hearts over the minute they jumped out of the van. They were 2 & 6 and they were perfect. After a couple of weeks of learning about the kids and starting school, we knew something was delayed with the 2-year-old. I worked in a self-contained classroom for special needs children with the local school system and I knew something just wasn’t right. After talking things over with the caseworker and doctor we all came to the agreement that there were some characteristics that were concerning. Fast forward 2 years and many doctor appointments, therapy appointments, sleepless nights, and myself having to quit my full-time job to be a stay-at-home mom, I advocated and fought for this little one to get the help that was needed. They were evaluated and diagnosed with Autism. This sweet little 2-year-old who couldn’t speak at all when they were brought to our home is now in a school that fits their needs and is thriving and excelling in everything they do, including talking as they constantly talk and we can never get a word in. Their case has been all over the place with so many highs and lows but we just continue to advocate for these kids and support them no matter what happens.