Families at Reflections: Austin’s Adoption Story

Foster families have an extra special place in my heart.

My natural parents opened our home to foster children and specialized in raising infants and babies. I grew up around babies my whole life, and I loved it! After I moved out, it felt so strange not having little ones around. The fact that I now have a career that allows me to work with kids makes me very happy. Of course, having four kids of my own makes me happy too.

So, that brings me to this incredible family. I actually met Danielle several years back through a mutual connection. We stayed in touch through social media, and I’m grateful that we did. In 2019, Danielle and her amazing husband, Dave, decided to open their home to foster children. 

In May 2020, they became foster parents of newborn Austin and quickly knew he belonged with their family. After years of waiting, their adoption finally came through! The Vanderwiers were able to celebrate with a photo session they waited years for. 

Danielle kindly agreed to be interviewed for my blog to share her family’s story. I can’t wait for you to read their incredible story. 

(Her responses were edited for clarity.)

Meet the Vanderwier Family 

1. Can you introduce yourself and your family members?
I’m Danielle Vanderwier, and I’m married to my husband, Dave. Our son, who is adopted, is Austin, and we have a foster baby girl right now. We just recently received our finalization papers in the mail for Austin’s adoption on August 14, which is my husband’s birthday, and it was a perfect birthday gift for him. We’re quite excited about that.

2. Can you share the story of how Austin joined your family?

We received a call to take Austin into our home a couple of days after he was born. We received the call on May 10, and he was born on May 8, 2020, and they said he was still in the hospital. He was, at the time, going through withdrawals with different drugs in his system. We were told he wasn’t doing very well. He was having a lot of withdrawal symptoms, and they weren’t sure how long he was going to be in the hospital. 

My husband and I were in the middle of a move at that time, and we had another 6-month-old foster placement too when we received the call for Austin, and my first thought was I didn’t think we could do it. We were days away from moving. It was very quick, and everything was happening all at once, so, at the time, we said no. As soon as I got off of the call, telling them we couldn’t do it, I had a pull on my heart that actually he was meant to be ours, and I needed to call them back. I had to call my husband first and told him I felt like he was ours and meant to be, and my husband said absolutely not. I got off the phone with him crying and called my mom. She said when Dave gets home, let’s all pray together, and we’ll talk about it. So that’s what we did, and we slept on it because we were both exhausted and it had been a long day. The next day I talked to my husband, and he still said he felt like it was a no, but he said that through our prayers and through hearing my side of it, he did feel like he was meant to be in our house, so he said yes. I called the placement service back and told them if they still needed a home for him, we were willing and open. They did still need a home for him, so the next day, I went to visit him in the hospital, and he wasn't looking good.

“But as soon as I snuggled him, he was home, and it was perfect. That’s the story of how he came into our lives.”

When we brought him home from the hospital, our little foster placement, who was six months old at that time, was in love with him and over the moon. They were connected from his arrival as well, which was nice. The first three months we had him were challenging. Lots of colic and withdrawal symptoms had us worried. Between 3 and 4 months, we hit a switch one day, and he was a totally different kid he woke up all smiles after sleeping all night and has been fine since. He’s been a joy to be around.

Around that time is also when we received a call from his social worker to say that he was definitely going up for adoption. We knew that from birth, his mother wouldn’t be able to raise him. They couldn’t place him directly into an adoptive home and needed to do an investigation of kin like they do. We then received a call that they didn’t have a relative to put him with, and if we wanted to adopt him, they were going to open that up now and start looking for families. And we knew we wanted to adopt him, so we said yes. 

3. What’s Austin Like??

Even from the start, he has been such a fighter. He’s a very strong, active boy. He loves to climb, and he’s definitely going to be an athletic boy. He knows exactly what he wants and is very determined to get it. He loves to fix things and is a tool lover, and is into construction. He’s also into music and dance. He’s very fun-loving and active. 

4. What inspired you to become foster parents? 

I’ve always known I wanted to foster and/or adopt because I wanted a big family. I always wanted to be a mom, but then at 15, I learned my body may not be able to carry children biologically. When I met my husband, Dave, we discussed that, and there was no hesitation from him on fostering or adopting, so I knew this was the guy I needed to be with. We were married in June 2019, and then in August 2019, we both saw an article on FB saying they had a dire need for foster parents for infants. I decided to call the agency from the article for more information. During our conversation, they said we would be good candidates, and she sent us an application package. A week later, we received that thick package in the mail. It was going to be a long process, and I started filling out what I could. A week after we received the paperwork, I got a call from the resource director saying they had a couple of babies coming due that would be perfect for our household. 

So then we decided to finish the paperwork, and within a couple of weeks, we started fast-tracking through the process of home studies and training classes. In October of 2019, they sent us approval of everything, and within the first week of November 2019, we had our first foster baby girl.

5. What was your family photography experience like? 

I’ve known Karen now for 8 or 9 years. I met her through a mutual friend. She’s always had such a relaxed, calm, positive vibe. Her photography is beautiful, and I knew I wanted her to be our photographer. It took me a while to convince my husband to invest financially in these pictures. But it was worth every penny for the service she provides.

The shoot itself was great, and she helped us understand how the process was going to work, which was very appreciated. I looked through her blog, and all of the pictures and people looked flawless, and I knew she’d make me look flawless too. My husband and son do not like having their pictures taken, and on the day of the shoot, she instantly came right up to my son, and he warmed right up to her. That made my husband feel more comfortable, and we all relaxed and enjoyed the shoot. There was nothing stuffy or awkward about it. She turned our fun and relaxing experience into art for our home. I was blown away by how she chose the locations based on knowing who we are and the colors we enjoy. 

“It was not a photography experience, it was a family time experience. It was like we were having nice, quality family time and there just happened to be a photographer there capturing all of the perfect, picture-worthy moments of that. It was great. She’s someone to be trusted with delicate, sensitive, emotional memories. She heard our story, got our vibe and she knew exactly what to do.”

6. What is something you could tell other foster parents?
There are a lot of people who will say that fostering is not for everyone, and I would say that’s not true. Fostering is for anybody. If you think you’re somebody who could not handle the heartbreak, then that makes you the right person for the job. It is going to be heartbreaking. It’s going to shatter your heart into a million pieces. It’s like losing a child every time one of your placements leaves your house. We’re quite fortunate to still be in touch with a couple of our kids’ new families, but that’s not always going to be the case. If you have any type of tug on your heart to foster, then do it. These babies, kids, and teens need it. Yes, you are setting yourself up for heartbreak, but it’s the kind of heartbreak that’s worth it. You know you’re doing good in these kids' lives. 

Danielle's testimonial: 

"Karen is amazing. Not only as a person, but as a photographer, business owner, organizer, wardrobe specialist, home decorator (with your custom photo art - but you should also see her studio. It’s dreamy), and sooo much more. She made this experience effortless for us in more ways than I expected or even realized until our session was finished. When she says full service - she means it! Everything is completely taken care of in the cost of the shoot - makeup and hair, wardrobe for the family, location, on-site accessories to help keep the kids happy, great communication from the point of booking until the very last steps, and takes all the guess work away. My son and husband don’t normally like having photos done, but they loved working with Karen. The way she made our toddler feel instantly comfortable and excited to be there, had all of us feeling more relaxed and comfortable as well. Can’t recommend Karen enough. Worth EVERY penny for the service she provides."

Telling Your Family’s Story Through Photography

Every family’s story is beautiful and deserves to be documented and preserved through photography. Having professional portrait artwork of your family on display in your home will not only make you happy every time you see it, but it will remind you of what you have. I would be honoured to document your family’s story. You can reach out to me right here.

How They Chose To Enjoy Their Portraits

CLIENT TESTIMONIAL

“Karen is amazing. Not only as a person, but as a photographer, business owner, organizer, wardrobe specialist, home decorator (with your custom photo art - but you should also see her studio. It’s dreamy), and sooo much more.

She made this experience effortless for us in more ways than I expected or even realized until our session was finished.

When she says full service - she means it! Everything is completely taken care of in the cost of the shoot - makeup and hair, wardrobe for the family, location, on-site accessories to help keep the kids happy, great communication from the point of booking until the very last steps, and takes all the guesswork away.

My son and husband don’t normally like having photos done, but they loved working with Karen. The way she made our toddler feel instantly comfortable and excited to be there - she had all of us feeling more relaxed and comfortable as well.

Can’t recommend Karen enough. Worth EVERY penny for the service she provides.” - Danielle Vanderwier