The Beauty of Adoption (Pro-Life NC Part 6)

August 5, 2023
NC Family Staff

This spring, North Carolina made significant progress on the pro-life front, passing a bill that limits most abortions to twelve weeks gestation. While we are rejoicing at the lives that will be saved by this law, we are also excited that it values life after birth and supports adoption, foster care, maternity homes, and other vital services. There are currently more than 113,000 children waiting to be adopted in America alone, and each of these children deserve the opportunity to grow up in a loving family.

This week on Family Policy Matters, host Traci DeVette Griggs welcomes Mike and Carol Sanchez, the parents of four adopted children, to discuss the joys (and struggles) of adoption. From sharing some of the differences between domestic and international adoptions to helping some of their children reconnect with their biological parents, this couple offers a wealth of insight and information.

This episode is a part of a series highlighting the pro-life movement in North Carolina. Tune in each week to learn more!

Subscribe to our podcast, so you can hear our interviews every week. Search on your preferred podcast app for: “NC Family’s Family Policy Matters” podcast.
Tune in to one of the radio stations that carry Family Policy Matters
Click below to listen online.

<a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/3K0nw2vq2CqnkH6dzUDQM6?si=8764bcaf58104ce9" target="_blank" rel="noopener external noreferrer" data-wpel-link="external">Spotify</a> • <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/nc-familys-family-policy-matters/id1281072482" target="_blank" rel="noopener external noreferrer" data-wpel-link="external">Apple Podcasts</a> • <a href="https://www.iheart.com/podcast/256-nc-familys-family-policy-m-30945720/" target="_blank" rel="noopener external noreferrer" data-wpel-link="external">iHeart Radio</a> • <a href="https://www.audacy.com/podcast/nc-familys-family-policy-matters-8ccbc" target="_blank" rel="noopener external noreferrer" data-wpel-link="external">Audacy</a> • <a href="https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/af37d15c-824e-4670-b8af-45e1a2f6b9a6/nc-family's-family-policy-matters" target="_blank" rel="noopener external noreferrer" data-wpel-link="external">Amazon Music</a> <hr /> <h3 style="text-align: center;">Family Policy Matters Transcript: What’s Happened In the North Carolina General Assembly So Far This Year</h3> TRACI DEVETTE GRIGGS Thanks for joining us today for Family Policy Matters. We are recording this interview for both the radio show and podcast and NC Family’s weekly video updates. If you’re interested in seeing the video version of this interview, sign up as part of our email list at NCfamily.org and you will receive an email when they are online every week. Our guests today are here to give us an update on this session of the North Carolina General Assembly. John Rustin is president of NC Family and Jerry Royall is NC Family’s Counsel. Both spend a lot of time at the General Assembly keeping an eye on what’s happening and working to influence laws on behalf of the families in our state. It’s amazing that when you hear about all of these important bills in the media, they’re portrayed as radical. But as we know when we actually read the text of the bills, which of course are always available to us on the NC legislature’s website at ncleg.gov, we find they’re actually common sense and reasonable. So let’s talk about some of those bills. Well, let’s talk first about a victory. There was a pro life victory in the legislature. What happened? JOHN RUSTIN Yes, well, there was and hopefully as you’re aware, we have had a great pro life victory in North Carolina. Senate Bill 20—The Care for Women, Children, and Families Act was passed by the legislature, of course was vetoed by Governor Roy Cooper, and the legislature overrode the governor’s veto. This bill is a major pro life victory in North Carolina. It essentially reduces the gestational age for illegal abortions in North Carolina from 20 weeks to 12 weeks. Of course, at the onset of the session, we were advocating strongly for a heartbeat bill in North Carolina, which would have reduced the legal gestational age for abortion about six weeks, it was clear as this bill and discussions were going on in both the House and the Senate, that that just was unfortunately not going to happen, and so they settled on 12 weeks. But this bill contains a lot of other provisions that will protect life in North Carolina, and also that will provide resources to give women and families that are facing crisis and unplanned pregnancies every reason to choose life instead of choosing abortion. Jere, do you have any other perspective? JERE ROYALL As you said, yeah, that was a compromise. We obviously wanted, and many others wanted, conception to be the time when the unborn child is protected. But there were a lot of good provisions that were added along with the 12 week restriction. JOHN RUSTIN And Traci, this bill is is literally going to save thousands of lives every year, and is going to again, provide resources. There’s $160 million dollars appropriated in this bill for improvements and enhancements to foster care, to adoption, to maternal care and lots of other important services in North Carolina, again, to give women and families that are facing crisis and unplanned pregnancies every reason to choose life. And so we’re really excited about it. TRACI DEVETTE GRIGGS Yeah, and I think it answers some of those critiques from the other side that all we care about is getting the baby born. So this is providing a lot of those services. JOHN RUSTIN Absolutely, absolutely. And that’s so critical, because there are going to be more and more women carrying a child to term and we need to provide those practical services to them and also support in lots of different ways. So yeah. TRACI DEVETTE GRIGGS Well let’s talk about going forward, then, there are a lot of bills that are important to North Carolina families that are being considered, talk about what those are. JOHN RUSTIN Well, a major bill is the Parents’ Bill of Rights, which I know a lot of our viewers and listeners care about. This bill clarifies and codifies parents fundamental rights to the care, custody, and control – using kind of legal terms – of their children, particularly in the arenas of education and health care. So this bill, Senate Bill 49, passed the Senate in early February and is awaiting action in the House. And we’re very, very hopeful that the house is going to take this bill up and pass it because parents do have a fundamental right to the care and upbringing of their children. But because that’s being challenged in lots of areas, especially in education and in health care, this bill does need to pass. TRACI DEVETTE GRIGGS Okay, how about Opportunity Scholarships? JERE ROYALL Well, this is an area where more and more people are realizing we need to offer choices in education, and there’s great support across the state for this. So both chambers, the House and the Senate have bills proposing that. The House actually passed their version, the Senate version was not voted on, would expand things even more. Their’s actually would include all income levels. Now it would be on a sliding scale, the amount of these grants, but because the bill has not been taken up, many people are talking about the fact that it will be put in the state budget, which is what has happened in recent years. But either way, there is going to be a significant expansion of the scholarship grants, not an unlimited amount, but they are going to continue to increase the availability of these scholarships. JOHN RUSTIN Yeah, so expanding eligibility, so more children, more families will be able to choose the educational environment that’s best for their children, and also forward funding as the legislature is done so that there are appropriations set aside for Opportunity Scholarships for years in advance. So we’re really excited about this initiative, and the legislature is really continuing making North Carolina one of the leading states in the nation in school choice. TRACI DEVETTE GRIGGS So this is what critics have hammered on is the all income levels, that you’re going to be providing these scholarships, which have in the past may have been for people who are low income or who’ve had special needs children. So now we’re giving scholarships and taking these rich kids and paying for them to go to private schools. What’s the truth in that? JERE ROYALL Well, I mean it is but it’s on a sliding scale. But the reality is people are saying taxpayers are putting money into the state fund, and so it only makes sense that if people are choosing for their children to take another path that some of those resources should follow the child. I understand your point people are making but the reality is doesn’t it make sense to let resources but not as much of the state resources follow the child as they go to various schools? TRACI DEVETTE GRIGGS Okay. The next one, I think is Fairness in Women’s Sports Act. JOHN RUSTIN Yes, and this bill is really designed to protect the health and safety of female athletes in middle school, high school, and college by designating sports teams as either male, female or CO Ed based on biological sex. And so there were similar bills introduced in both the State Senate and the State House, those bills passed their chamber of origin. So the Senate bill passed the Senate, the House bill passed the House, but neither chamber has taken up the other chambers bill yet. So since there is clearly support in both chambers for this legislation, we fully anticipate that this bill will be taken up in either the House or the Senate, and that bill will be passed. JERE ROYALL Quick note on that, John, that doesn’t normally happen. Usually, one chamber passes a bill sends it over to the other. In this case, as you say they did pass their own version. The main difference is the House version includes college sports, so it remains to be seen how they’re going to work out that difference. TRACI DEVETTE GRIGGS Okay, so this is primarily about transgender individuals trying to play on a sport that doesn’t match their birth gender. So we’ve got another bill that’s similar prohibiting gender surgeries on minors. What’s happening with that? JOHN RUSTIN Right, well, this is House Bill 808, which passed the House in early May, has not been considered by the Senate yet. The original version of this bill, and there’s a companion Senate bill, would prohibit the administration of puberty blockers, cross sex hormones, and the performance of gender reassignment surgeries on minors in North Carolina. So the House took up their bill, they took out the puberty blockers or the chemical portions and kept it as just prohibiting cross sex surgeries on minors and sent that bill over to the Senate. We’re hopeful that the Senate will take up their version of the bill or reinstate the chemical treatment prohibition as part of this bill. Because these drugs, these chemicals, and these surgical procedures are irreversible and sterilize the individuals who receive these services. And it’s just not a good thing for especially our youth to be subjected to. And so individuals who are dealing with gender dysphoria certainly need support, they need compassion, they need care, but they don’t need irreversible surgeries and chemicals in their bodies. TRACI DEVETTE GRIGGS Okay, so these two bills are not proof that Republicans hate transgender individuals, is that what you’re saying? JOHN RUSTIN Yes, that is correct. JERE ROYALL It is, it’s showing true care for people. As John said, they’re permanent changes. There’s no proof. I mean, more and more. We’ve seen it over in Europe, other parts of the world that they’ve been on this path and have seen, they’re coming with negative outcomes. This is bringing harm to people’s lives. So it is, it’s really showing compassion. One other quick note too, John, it remains to be seen how their work out the difference, the House version did still have a provision in there, even though it didn’t keep the chemical part, where no state funding would go towards any kinds of treatments. TRACI DEVETTE GRIGGS Yeah, it is interesting that the United States is doing much more radical things with individuals who believe themselves to be transgender than even European countries. Some of these countries we expect to be far out there. JOHN RUSTIN And Traci, in a related bill, there’s also legislation that would protect the rights of conscience of healthcare providers in North Carolina. It’s a very broad bill, but part of the intention of the bill is to address and protect physicians and others in the healthcare industry from being forced to engage and participate in these kinds of administration of drugs and surgeries on minors. So that is House Bill 819, the Medical Ethics Defense Act. We do have conscience protections in North Carolina protecting doctors, physicians, health care providers from participating in abortions. And this would extend that in a much broader sense. So we are hopeful that this bill will be taken up because that’s really important not only to prohibit minors from participating, but if adults are seeking these kinds of treatments that, if a healthcare provider objects to it on religious, ethical or moral grounds, they should not be forced to participate in it. So another important bill. TRACI DEVETTE GRIGGS Okay. So the final one that our organization is watching is called The REACH Act, and as someone who loves history and thinks that we all need to learn more about our Founding Fathers and some of the founding documents, I love this one. But explain what that is. JOHN RUSTIN Well, The REACH Act would require three credit hours of instruction on American government and our founding documents as a prerequisite for graduation from North Carolina universities and community colleges. So the title of the bill is Reclaiming College Education on America’s Constitutional Heritage, the acronym for that is REACH, so that’s where The REACH Act comes from. And there were bills introduced in both chambers to do this. There have been discussions, but no final action taken yet on this legislation by the General Assembly. TRACI DEVETTE GRIGGS Right, and why is this important? JERE ROYALL Well, as we’re seeing now, they’ve done surveys and asked people basic questions about government. And sadly, the responses are almost shocking. And this is where people are going, “Okay, we see this is a problem.” As citizens of this country, we need to understand our system of government, we all need to participate. And that’s what course we’re about. And we appreciate the fact that so many of you work together with us within our government. But if people don’t understand how the government system works, they’re not as likely to be involved and interested. And so this is an important part of helping people see what does it mean to be a citizen of this country, of this state? TRACI DEVETTE GRIGGS Right. And I think this is why it’s important for all of us to be an educated electorate. This is why getting involved with NC Family, signing up for those emails and actually reading them when they go into your email box is important because you’re continuing to educate yourself and how you can be active. JOHN RUSTIN We’ve got a couple more issues to talk about. I know we’re running short on time. Of course, gambling has been a huge focus of the legislature. Unfortunately in recent weeks, as we are having our discussion today, the sports gambling and horse racing bill has passed the General Assembly and has been sent to the governor. He is expected to sign the bill in the coming days. And it’s just very unfortunate because we know the tremendously negative impact that the legalization of sports gambling in North Carolina is going to have, especially on our young adults and youth. The legislature is also considering bills and discussing bills that would place casinos in North Carolina and also legalize Video Lottery terminals or basically video poker machines under the auspices of the state lottery, we are fighting these bills like the dickens and I’m just heartbroken to see the sports gambling bill and the horse racing bill pass the legislature. If this is an issue that is of concern to you, please keep your eyes and ears open for alerts from the Family Policy Council as we move further into the session, because these bills are likely to come up quite quickly. TRACI DEVETTE GRIGGS And then the last one is medical marijuana, which I think is just ridiculous that we’re actually still talking about this. We know all the evidence that shows that it’s not healthy to have this legalized marijuana. Talk about what’s happening in North Carolina. JERE ROYALL Well, it passed earlier this year in the Senate as the House has not brought it up yet. We and you and many others continue to inform our members of the legislature of the house, just as you’re saying Traci, about the realities. All major medical groups are saying, “No, let us be the ones who approve medications. This we’re finding harm, not help.” And again, thank you for your involvement, because the more they’re hearing, the more they’re being encouraged with the facts and the truth. We’re understanding that opposition is continuing to grow. So this coming week, we’ve heard they may be voting in the House within the caucus of Republicans where if it’s defeated there, then that will be the end of the bill, which is what needs to happen. So we all are going to keep working together to inform, encourage them which goes back to your whole point about being involved with government, looking out for our neighbor, caring for one another. This is one more way we can do that. TRACI DEVETTE GRIGGS And y’all it’s so valuable that we have these people up there, you know, advocating on our behalf. So thank you very much for all the good work that you guys do. JOHN RUSTIN Thank you, Traci. I appreciate that. <h3 style="text-align: center;">– END –</h3>

Spotify • Apple Podcasts • iHeart Radio • Audacy • Amazon Music

Family Policy Matters
Transcript: Reversing Death: The Abortion Pill Rescue Network

TRACI DEVETTE GRIGGS: Thanks for joining us this week for Family Policy Matters. This summer marks one year since the US Supreme Court reversed its nearly 50 year old Roe v Wade decision that had legalized abortion on demand nationwide. So we’re bringing you a series of interviews with North Carolinians who represent the many facets of the pro life movement here in our state. Well, today we’re joined by Mike and Carol Sanchez, North Carolina parents who adopted four children who now range in age from high school to young adulthood. Mike and Carol Sanchez, welcome to Family Policy Matters.

MIKE SANCHEZ: Thank you, Traci. We’re happy to be here.

CAROL SANCHEZ: Hi, Traci, it’s nice to meet you.

TRACI DEVETTE GRIGGS: Start by telling us about your family. What does your family look like?

MIKE SANCHEZ: Carol and I got married almost 33 years ago. We decided after several years of not being able to have children to adopt, and so we began adopting. Our oldest daughter is Jessica, and she’s now 25 years old, and we adopted her from Brazil. Then, as we always tease her, those foreign models are way too difficult to handle, so we went domestic and started adopting here, and we adopted Ben from an agency in Charlotte and Ben is now 23 years old. And then a few more years went by, and we adopted David from the Kansas Adoption Center. And then finally, we had such a good experience at the Kansas Adoption Center that we also adopted Angela from there. And so David is 19, and Angela is 17 years old. And that’s our family.

TRACI DEVETTE GRIGGS: All right, you started off first with an international adoption, so talk about that. What was that like for you? And how is it different from your domestic adoptions?

MIKE SANCHEZ: I will say that our international adoption experience was very atypical, then again, maybe it is for everyone. So my mom’s side of the family is from Brazil, and we were told – and my mom is a dual citizen, actually, all of us kids were made dual citizens because she was diplomat working here, my dad’s American – we were told when we started the process that, “Oh, since you’re a dual citizen, it’ll be very easy to go through Brazil.” And three years later, we did get Jessica but it was anything but easy. We did not go through an agency per se, we were working almost directly with the Brazilian government. It does help that I do speak Portuguese, but it was a very difficult and complicated process. But a lot of that was because, quite honestly, Brazil really, at least at that time, 25 years ago, was not set up well for international adoption.

TRACI DEVETTE GRIGGS: Is that why you decided then to stay here in the United States to adopt?

MIKE SANCHEZ: Yes, very much so. We figured, we know it’s not always easy in the United States either, but we figured it’s got to be less complicated than that.

CAROL SANCHEZ: Also, when we went to adopt Jessica, we had to spend quite a bit of time in Brazil. So we realized that if we wanted to go international again, we would have to go to that country for some period of time. And now we had Jessica, so you know, would we take her with us? Could we leave her with somebody for several weeks? That seemed more complicated also.

TRACI DEVETTE GRIGGS: There are so many different options. Did that weigh in on where you decided to try to adopt?

MIKE SANCHEZ: The situation in Brazil, we knew that there would probably be very little contact, if any, with the birth mother. The way Carol and I felt about it is our concern was, you know what parenting is complicated enough that we really didn’t want the complication or the lack of clarity for our children as to where are they getting direction from and you know, we didn’t want to get this situation set up, or maybe they might try to play us off against their birth parent and so forth. So we were fine with sending pictures and the update to the birth parents every year, but we opted for the situation where they weren’t having contact with our kids. Now, we were perfectly fine, and actually this has worked out where once they’re 18 years old, you know, we’ll even help them find their birth parents if it’s even possible. So for two of our children, they have been able to, not only did we find Jessica’s birth parents in Brazil, which was really difficult, but we also found David’s birth mom in Kansas as well and they’ve had contact with them.

TRACI DEVETTE GRIGGS: Well take us back to what first opened your hearts to the possibility of adoption. So talk about what you were thinking about during that time and has your thinking changed since those very early days?

CAROL SANCHEZ: We were not able to conceive. We went through as many diagnostic methods as were available, and there was really no reason that we knew of, so it wasn’t like there was something we could fix, you know, knowingly. Of course, all of the fertility options were out there, but we were not crazy about doing that. Some of them also were against church teachings. But I just didn’t feel good about willy nilly throwing hormones into my system, if I wasn’t specifically fixing something I knew was wrong. But we knew we wanted a family. Michael came from a pretty big family, and I did not, and his family are very engaged with each other and it’s a really fun existence and I wanted a family like that. So I wanted a lot of children and he did too. So it wasn’t a hard decision for us to say, well, we’re gonna go the adoption route. And I would not change it, I really look back and I think, could I possibly love anybody any more than I love the children that we got? And would I have wanted a different situation where these four kids, you know, they were all brought from different parts of the world into our family, I just wouldn’t have wanted it done differently. So there are difficulties that we dealt with as everything we’ve done, but I wouldn’t change it.

TRACI DEVETTE GRIGGS: Let’s talk practical steps. If somebody’s listening to this, and they’re like, you know, I really want to but I’m overwhelmed by the thought of how to even get started, what kinds of direction would you give them?

MIKE SANCHEZ: One of the key things is to start talking about it and start calling agencies. Now if they think that they might want to adopt, if they know anybody that’s adopted, especially someone that has adopted recently, I would suggest talk to them about what their experience was. And I say that from this standpoint, I don’t even remember now, because it was 24 years ago or so, how we came upon the Christian adoption center in Charlotte, but we found them and we developed a good rapport with them. And that went very well. The only reason we didn’t go back to them, you know, when we wanted to adopt more children, is really because North Carolina at the time had a rule that when they placed the child in your custody, even though you know, everybody had signed the paperwork, the birth mother, and I think this has changed since then, the birth mother used to have 14 days,

CAROL SANCHEZ: I think it was 21

MIKE SANCHEZ: Oh, that’s right, 21 days to change her mind.

CAROL SANCHEZ: No questions asked.

MIKE SANCHEZ: No questions asked, and so we were very nervous during those 21 days. So the reason I say talk to folks is like, for instance, I had just started a new job. And it turns out the two of the guys that I worked with, they had each adopted children from this Adoption Center in Kansas called the Kansas Adoption Center, and they were going on and on about how it was wonderful. Them and their wives had just a great experience, and they adopted kids from them. So that’s why we ended up adopting our last two from Kansas.

CAROL SANCHEZ: Because in Kansas once the birth mother had signed, that’s it, it’s done.

MIKE SANCHEZ: So I would say the things to look for are, wherever you’re adopting, what is that requirement? And do you feel comfortable with it in terms of when does the birth mother, you know, lose the right to reverse that? I pressed the most important tip, because let me tell you something, we ended up with four kids, but we worked with a couple of agencies in Florida and so forth, a real key thing to look for is how well does the agency get to know their birth parents. And the reason I say that is, because we’re working with an agency down near Fort Lauderdale, and I don’t think they got to know their birth parents that well, and we had a couple of situations where the adoption has advanced to a pretty far degree and then the birth mother changed their mind. And we felt like with Christian Adoption Services and Kansas Adoption Center, they really got to know their birth mother. So they knew she’s really in it because she really wants the best for her child. And she feels like this is the best route and that’s not a high likelihood that she’s going to reverse her decision. And please understand that I say that with all due respect to birth mothers, because I know that it’s a very difficult and very hard decision to make. But that was difficult time for us too, when we would get close to thinking this adoption was going to happen and then the decision was reversed.

TRACI DEVETTE GRIGGS: So speaking of these birth mothers, do you have a message for others who might be listening to this now, who are pregnant mothers considering adoption? I know I’ve heard people say, “I could never give my child up for adoption,” and so they choose abortion. Talk to this mother about her potential decision.

CAROL SANCHEZ: I’m going to say first of all, it is not going to be easy at all. And in fact, Christian Adoption Services, we whined about this at the time, but they required that we go to a seminar with birth moms who have previously given up their children for adoption, and it was eye opening to us. A lot of people, I think, get the impression that, you know, the birth mom got pregnant, wants to just get on with her life, doesn’t care, just wants to get rid of the baby, and wants to get rid of the baby, out of sight out of mind. And that is so not true. These birth mothers have their babies’ pictures up on the wall. They waited every month for those pictures to come in. They cried terribly to let these little kids go, but they wanted a better life for their children. It was a huge sacrifice on their part, but they got the reassurance, especially if the adoptive parents were good about sending those pictures, they got the reassurance that they did something really great for that child. And now, for example, we are flying Jessica’s birth mother from Brazil to come to Jessica’s wedding. And she’s just so ecstatic to see where her daughter ended up and how great she’s doing. So it’s a long term payback, I guess, but it’s truly the most loving decision you can make.

TRACI DEVETTE GRIGGS: Was there an unexpected joy, and the biggest challenge that you can leave with us as we’re finishing up our discussion?

MIKE SANCHEZ: I’ll speak to the challenge first, and then we’ll end on the positive note of the joy. As adoptive parents, we were asked to attend various seminars and so forth, and as Carol said, some of these were very helpful, really eye opening. One thing that we have come to learn, that I’m not sure that it was talked about much 25 years ago when we started adoption, is that it is important to remember that even the very act of adoption, in other words, a child not being raised by their birth mother, that there is a level of trauma that’s involved in that. This baby has been inside their birth mother for nine months, and so that separation does cause trauma.

And the reason I bring that up is because it has, we’ve seen with a couple of our kids, we have one child that is struggling with addiction issues and is in recovery right now and so forth. And that’s been a big part of it. You know, this was a situation where the birth mom was using drugs when she was pregnant with him and so forth. But to understand that when you adopt this child, it’s not this isolated being that’s coming into your life, it is a being that was connected to their birth parents and their history and their genetics, and that that separation itself, even if everything goes smoothly, that separation itself, there’s a little inherent trauma there that can manifest itself in different ways. So I think that’s one of the most eye opening challenges that Carol and I have had over the years that our kids have grown.

CAROL SANCHEZ: And we don’t want to paint a frightening picture, it’s just that, my oldest daughter put it to me the best one time. She said, “Mom, you know, you have our adoption day, every year,” we always celebrated their adoption day, “And for you, it’s this beautiful, joyful time where you were building your family. But for us, it’s still a remembrance that there was a family that didn’t want us.” And I think that’s a good reason to try to contact their birth parents if the child is ready for it. And if we feel they’re ready, and they feel they’re ready. But I think going in knowing that this is a possibility, we naively thought, we got these children at two to three days old, so that wipes the slate clean, just like they came to us as ours. Learned that that’s not true, but it’s still a beautiful thing. You know, when I think about my son who is in recovery, I think, “Thank God, he was with us, and we could help him.” Whereas a lot of families might not have been able to do that.

MIKE SANCHEZ: One more comment on that, there’s lots of information out there these days on developmental trauma, and so forth. And actually even one really interesting book I read that’s called It Didn’t Start With You, which is a very interesting book about that. In terms of the joys, if we were doing this live, or if I could bring you into our home, I would show you the picture that my kids gave me. They put together this big framed picture, and it had each of their names, and under each of their names it has a map showing where they came from. And to me that joy that we formed our family with these kids from all over the world, and that they have the opportunity to be brother and sister to each other, and that we have the blessing to be their parents and them to be our children, it’s very moving to me and it really, I mean that deep joy, the kind of joy that only comes from something that God has moved forward. So I’ll echo what Carol said earlier. You know, I’ve had people ask, “Gosh, do you ever wish that you had had your own children?” I’ll be honest with you, you know, it’s not that I’m saying, “Oh, I’m glad we didn’t.” I’m just saying, “You know what? The thought never even crosses my mind because that’s what these children feel like.”

TRACI DEVETTE GRIGGS: Okay, thank you so much for sharing your story with us. We’re out of time now but Mike and Carol Sanchez, thank you so much for being with us today on Family Policy Matters.

– END –

The Beauty of Adoption (Pro-Life NC Part 6)

The Beauty of Adoption (Pro-Life NC Part 6)

Family Policy Matters
Transcript: Reversing Death: The Abortion Pill Rescue Network

EXPLORE

FOLLOW US

The Beauty of Adoption (Pro-Life NC Part 6)

The Beauty of Adoption (Pro-Life NC Part 6)

Family Policy Matters Transcript: Reversing Death: The Abortion Pill Rescue Network

EXPLORE

FOLLOW US

Family Policy Matters
Transcript: Reversing Death: The Abortion Pill Rescue Network