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"Hey mom!"  Says the 3 year old covered in sand.

"Yeah baby?" Replies the sunbathing mom, engrossed in a beach read.

"Look at that little girl over there." Urges the little girl.

"Yeah baby." Says mom, not yet looking up from her book.

"She has arms just like mine." The baby says.

Book shuts.  She’s got my full attention now.

I knew this time would come, in fact I thought it would have happened by now.  At three Grace is about as smart as a five year old.  Nothing gets past her.  I have been prepared to answer questions about the color of her skin, in contrast to mine, since the day she was born, In an LA hospital to an unwed young mother of three who wanted more for this baby.  The doctor put the tiny brown baby in my arms and I was finally, gloriously, a mother. 

In our family we forget she isn't white.  She is a mix of Mexican, Black and Caucasian so she has the most gorgeous light brown skin you have ever seen. We talk about how pretty her skin is all the time, but don't see it like others might.  She is us, an irreplaceable, essential piece of what makes me who I am, just as much as her little white sister is.

Adoption is our family. Some families are created by plan. Some created by mistake. Some by birth, some by marriage, and some, like ours, out of endless, on our knees prayer and a three and a half year wait.  But now, having lived my life as a mother to Grace for the last three years, I wouldn't have had it any other way. Any other way wouldn't have brought me her.

My little brother was adopted and my cousin, with whom I am very close. So adoption wasn't new to me.  I was immediately a fan of adoption the minute I held my two day old baby brother. I was fifteen years old and in love.

So when I was told I had unexplained infertility my husband and I didn't think twice about starting the adoption process.  We went the way of medicine as well and tried for years to get pregnant through IVF but God had different plans. Our adoption was quick but painful, you can read some of the emotional roller-coaster we went through in my previous blogs - (Mothers day blog and 5 months apart blog)

But the only major roadblock we ran into was financial. Our adoption was ridiculously expensive.  The bills kept piling up and as a young couple struggling pay check to pay check already, we were drowning.  We got rid of a car, cancelled cable (which is funny since I was, at the time, a television news caster,) and I worked a second job as a fitness instructor to help pay the birth parents bills. But it still wasn't enough. 

I will forever be endlessly grateful to my in-laws for their help. Without the financial assistance they gifted us, we would never have been able to bring home Grace.  I remember opening a letter from my mother in law with a check and a note that said "there will be a baby this year."  She had been through the heartbreak with us year after year and she was willing to do anything to help us have a family.  We were beyond blessed.

But the truth is most couples don't get help from their family.  Most couples go through the pain of trying to have children for years only to be hit with the pain of not being able to afford to adopt.  And there are so many kids, of all ages, out there that are just waiting and praying for a family to pull the money together to adopt them.  And there are women, like our birth mother, who would have aborted if it weren't for someone telling her about adoption in the ninth hour, and a family willing to pay her bills so she didn't have to terminate the pregnancy.

Adoption is expensive. It can cost between ten and forty thousand dollars.  But it’s worth every penny...if you have it.  When Becky Fawcett, the CEO of HelpUSAdopt.org reached out to me after reading one of my adoption blogs for QVC, I was in awe of what she was doing.  An adoptive mom herself, she had spent every last penny she and her husband had to help other families.  They raise money and provide grants to families who are trying to adopt.  The nonprofit organization has been featured on the Today show, CNN, NBC Nightly News, in People Magazine and the New York Times, just to start.  They are saving kids, and saving parents like me. I had been given a gift from my in-laws and from my daughter and I knew I wanted to help others feel the joy of becoming parents.  I was honored when they asked me to Emcee the Neiman Marcus fashion show at King Of Prussia Mall on March 12th.   I couldn't think of a better organization to put my name on, and share with you, the QVC family.

In fact, QVC was quick to jump on board with me when I said I wanted to help.  The company’s charitable mission is to support the success and wellness of women through the power of relationships. I’d say there is no stronger relationship than a mother and child.  And I'm not alone, just on the QVC host team alone we have numerous adoptive parents and adoptees.  One of my closest friends Rachel Boesing is adopted and she will be at the event with me. 

Adoption doesn't stop with those of us on the air.  Since joining QVC, I have met many wonderful people who have been touched by adoption all across the business.  

When Grace pointed out the little brown skinned girl sitting down the beach from us my heart nearly burst. I wasn't scared, wasn't ashamed, wasn't sad, I was filled to the brim with pride.  My little girl was excited to point out her color. She is proud of how she looks and I take responsibility for that.  We sat there on the beach, me with tears behind my big sunglasses and talked about her skin and my skin and her sisters skin and  papas skin.  We clapped our hands and cheered for adoption and we hugged and kissed and then she went back her goldfish crackers and sand bucket. And I had one more first as a parent that I will cherish forever.

Adoptive families can look different than what you may be used to but they are beautiful.  I hope you can join me on March 12th and support this great cause.  I’d also love to hear how adoption has touched your life. Keep up with me on facebook (www.facebook.com/kerstinlindquistqvc) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/kerstinlindqvc)  us #Mom2Mom.  For ticket information please visit www.helpusadopt.org

Have a blessed day,

Kerstin