I recently had the opportunity to chat with hopeful adoptive parents Steve and Katie from South Carolina. When you’re thinking about adoption for your child, you can chat with hopeful adoptive parents before you decide. Talking to them lets you get to know them and see if they’d be a good fit as parents for your baby. This way, you can feel confident you’re making the best choice.
I asked Steve and Katie some fun questions that you won’t find in their adoption profile, and I learned that they are an active, friendly Christian couple in the South who are so excited to welcome their first child in an open adoption! As they put it, “Faith, family and friends are very important to us. If you’d like, we are open to keeping in touch throughout your child’s life and hope for the chance to get to know you.”
1. What advice would you give yourself at age 15?
Steve: I would tell my 15-year-old self that it’s okay to be unsure about the future. Having a goal and having no idea how to accomplish it is okay. Also, it’s okay if you know the way and see a long road of hard work. I promise you it will pay off in the end. Life is made up of little battles and challenges.
In some, you’ll win and learn something, but in others, you will lose and learn even more. The most interesting paths aren’t the ones with straight lines. It’s okay to fail, but keep on your path, do the work (even if it seems impossible at times), and always move forward.
2. What is your favorite holiday, and why?
Katie: My favorite holiday has always been Christmas. The traditions that we have and the memories we make are things I want to continue to have with our child.
My sisters and I get together with our mom to make our favorite holiday treats while Christmas music plays in the background. My nieces and nephews get in on the fun, too, and we usually make a pretty big mess of the kitchen, but I wouldn’t trade those memories for anything! We also get matching pajamas from my mom every year, and I think it’s so sweet to see all 15 of us dressed alike, especially the little ones!
You can get an even better glimpse into Steve and Katie’s lives in this video:
3. What did you want to be when you were a kid?
Steve: Oddly enough, I wanted to be a pilot. I was one of the lucky few who knew what they wanted to be when they were 8. I blame Tom Cruise and a little movie called Top Gun. Nothing was more fascinating to me than strapping into a machine and defying gravity…dancing among the clouds. Nothing else was ever seriously in my mind.
Even when practicality entered my mind, I paid those thoughts fleeting attention at best. I was born to be a pilot. I feel at home in the air. To date, I’ve spent a year and four months of my life not touching the ground. There’s nothing else I’d rather do for a living, and you can’t beat the views!
4. What is something from your childhood that you want to make sure your child gets to experience?
Katie: I grew up in Iowa, and it snows quite a lot there during the winter and sometimes even in the fall and spring. I remember Trick or Treating with my snowsuit underneath my costume one year!
When we had snow days, my mom would let us bake chocolate chip cookies with her. She was able to be a stay-at-home mom for a lot of my childhood so that we could do things like that. That is one of the reasons I will be a stay-at-home mom for our child so we can do fun things like that, even though we now live in the south and almost never get snow!
5. What was your first job?
Steve: My first job was working at my father’s grocery store when I was 12. I’ve spent a lifetime lobbying Congress to include family-owned businesses in the child labor laws (haha).
The first thing my brother and I were assigned was the produce department. We packaged, wrapped, and priced fresh produce. When we got too good at that, it was on to the stock floor where we would receive shipments and get them on the shelves. We moved on to the meat department when we got old enough to be around machinery. Ever wanted to work in 35 degrees with blood all over your apron all day? I didn’t think so.
What strikes me all these years later is the lesson. We weren’t there because Dad needed the help of his kids. We were there to learn to work. To see a goal, put your head down, and finish it…even when you’re cold or tired or would rather be doing normal kid things. We were taught to do the work. I value those times now, even when, at the time, they felt like a punishment.
Curious to know more about Steve and Katie?
You can view their adoptive family profile online.
If you’re interested in talking to them as potential adoptive parents to your baby, just text or call Lifetime at
1-800-923-6784 and we can connect you with them.
As the Vice President (VP) of Lifetime Adoption, Heather Featherston holds an MBA and is passionate about working with those facing adoption, pregnancy, and parenting issues. Heather has conducted training for birth parent advocates, spoken to professional groups, and has appeared on television and radio to discuss the multiple aspects of adoption. She has provided one-on-one support to women and hopeful adoptive parents working through adoption decisions.
Since 2002, she has been helping pregnant women and others in crisis to learn more about adoption. Heather also trains and speaks nationwide to pregnancy clinics to effectively meet the needs of women who want to explore adoption for their child. Today, she continues to address the concerns women have about adoption and supports the needs of women who choose adoption for their child.
As a published author of the book Called to Adoption, Featherston loves to see God’s hand at work every day as she helps children and families come together through adoption.
