Adoption Day

Our family is getting ready to celebrate our son's fifth adoption day in just a few weeks. It's amazing how quickly time has passed and yet, I can remember meeting our little guy for the first time just as if it were yesterday. Our seven year old son was born in Guatemala and we waited an agonizing 14 months for his homecoming. The wait was long, but well worth it and here we are five years later enjoying every minute of life together.

Adoption Day is a chance to celebrate how your family was put together. It's an opportunity to remember the amazing gift your child is to you. For us, it's also a chance to remember our son's birthmother and his foster mother in Guatemala. Re-telling the stories of his homecoming and watching videos of our time in Guatemala are fun ways we spend the day.

The best part of Adoption Day? Tucking our little man in bed at night, giving him a hug and a kiss and knowing that our family is complete.

Charlie Marquardt

Happy Valentine's Day

For all of you waiting for your cherubs through adoption ... hold special thoughts .. send up prayers ... realize that one day soon you will be celebrating this day as a family.

For all of you home with your angels ... give them a special hug, praise them, and thank your children for the lovely gift their presence has brought to your family.

For all of you considering adoption ... from the bottom of my HEART, I wish you a joyful journey and my special wish for you to make a decision to bring a child home to a permanent family.

Sincerely, Diane

My Favorite Quote ... Mothers hold their children's hands for awhile; their hearts, forever!

What's going on????

So often we receive phone calls from families inquiring about the trends in adoption. Since all of our consultants are members of the greater adoption triad (birth parents, adoptive parents or adoptees), we have a unique finger on the pulse of the adoption community. We work with agencies and attorneys throughout the US and make it our highest priority to keep updated on adoption law changes as well as adoption trends.

I started A Step Ahead Adoption Services (ASA) ten years ago (formerly called Step-by-Step Adoption Consultants)as an outgrowth of my family's own personal adoption experience. While I was surrounded by wonderful adoption professionals who knew adoption law, adoption practice, and provided excellent education ... I found the ongoing emotional support element lacking. ASA consultants spend between 60-100 hours per client through their adoption procedure. Most of our client families come to us through personal referrals. We are indebted to our client families who continue to reward our efforts with their ongoing recommendations. If you are a current or former ASA family ... we thank you for being a part of our family!

Welcome to the ASA blog! We are glad you are here and hope that you will find the blog posts helpful, educational, and most importantly, encouraging. Adoption is an amazing journey but it is not without bumps in the road. It always helps to know that there are others who have walked this way before and can help you navigate your way through the ins and outs of adoption.