Stories of Hope: Kelly and Kacey
In 2021, Kelly and Kacey approached Hope Cottage about opportunities to adopt a child. Neither they nor Hope Cottage knew that this would be the start of an amazing professional relationship, or that three years later Kacey and Kelly would welcome a beautiful baby girl into their home. In the conversation below, Hope Cottage adoptive couple Kelly and Kacey describe their experiences working with Hope Cottage.
How did Hope Cottage support you throughout your adoption process?
“Hope Cottage has done a great job of helping us throughout this process. They have given us a network of folks to contact and have been available to talk us through the adoption process in person and over the phone. We have also been very grateful for the post-adoption support in keeping us in contact with our daughter’s birth mother. We’ve felt like Hope Cottage has been our champion in helping us build our family.”
What did your adoption journey mean to you?
“Our adoption journey is a defining part of our story. It has taught me resilience and compassion through the ups and downs and provided us with a community of other adoptive families. We started this journey wanting to grow our family by adopting a child, but our family has grown so much more. We have a beautiful daughter that we’re so proud of, and we’re grateful that she will grow up knowing other adoptees through Hope Cottage. We’re so grateful that her birth mother has wanted to be part of our family and involved in our lives.”
Given your experiences working with Hope Cottage, how do you think services like Infant Adoption help uplift individual families within the LGBT community?
“It can be daunting as an LGBTQ+ couple looking to adopt, especially in Texas. There are so many agencies that discriminate against queer couples. Hope Cottage has been reassuring and accepting in advocating for families no matter what the couple's gender/affectionate identity. It is so validating to see couples that look like us in Hope Cottage’s social media and website. It helps couples know they can be safe through this emotional and vulnerable process.”
Would you recommend Hope Cottage’s services to other queer families seeking to foster or adopt their own children? If so, why?
“Yes, I would recommend Hope Cottage. We have had a great experience growing our family, but we also feel strongly about Hope Cottage’s other programs helping the community and health care. As queer people, we rely on community outreach, and that aligns with our values. We also see that Hope Cottage is a safe space for couples to be themselves while growing their family.”
In the early 2000s, Hope Cottage opened our services to LGBTQ+ families. In the years since, we have proudly supported members of the North Texas queer community seeking to build their own loving families. Hope Cottage is lucky to work with good people like Kelly and Kacey who welcome Hope babies into their homes.