Family Stories About Adoption

The Matson family

The Matson Family


My first interest in adoption came when I was about 12 years old. My teenage cousin told us the story about “Mrs. Mike” as she was reading it. I knew then that I wanted kids when I grew up, and knew it did not matter if they were mine by birth or by adoption. Since I am single, adoption was a natural choice. My cousin and her husband adopted a sibling group from foster care, so I decided to check out that route. Having a relative do foster care as I was growing up, and getting to know some of their foster kids also influenced me. Both of my daughters were in foster care and lived in residential treatment before they came home to live with me.


For Breanna, who had many foster care placements, my profile was listed on the state website and CHS contacted me through the Department of Social Services in May. Breanna was ten at the time and I had in my mind a child of around six or seven. I took a while to consider, but the more I learned of Breanna, the more she seemed like the right kid. In July, on Breanna’s 11th birthday, we told her she had a family. In August, Breanna came home for good becoming an “official” Matson the following September.


After Breanna had been here three years, we just started to discuss adopting another child. When Breanna saw Tawnee's picture in a foster care newsletter, she said "She looks like she could be my sister." I called the social worker for more information, and a few months later got a call asking if we were interested. As it turned out, Tawnee was in the same CHS facility that Breanna had been in. Tawnee and her older brother also came from the foster care system and had an earlier adoption that disrupted after four years, with both of them winding up at CHS. Tawnee’s brother, although not adopted, is a part of our family and visits regularly.


We have some contact with both of my daughters’ birth families. I feel they both have a strong need for this connection and encourage safe connections with their past. My family, friends, church, school and community all have been very supportive. The adjustment is worth every bit of it. We are not a traditional family, but we are a real family.