Wow, September already. I’ll tell you that I’m especially excited for this family for a few reasons. First, I love their story and of course our Marshallese connection. Second, Steve and I sometimes bounce around the idea of a second adoption and what we would do differently, what drives us etc. Reading this story brings a lot of that to the forefront. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.
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We are Kurt, Morgan & Milliana Oetken! So nice to “meet” y’all!
Kurt and I have been married for 8 ½ years! Wow, is that right?! We met at church one Sunday morning in October 2009, and went on our first date just a couple weeks later. Honestly, the rest is history! After just a couple months of dating, we both knew this was different, and we began having conversations about what each of us envisioned our future holding. This was when we first discussed adoption! I mean, get on board or move on, right? Ha! Adoption is a calling I have always felt God had laid on my heart, and I knew that was a calling I wanted to pursue. Thankfully Kurt entertained the conversation, though I’m sure he wasn’t ready to start discussing having children at that time whatsoever. We didn’t talk much about adoption in particular after then until we started discussing plans for growing our family in 2015. We had thought we would potentially have a biological child first, then adopt our second child, but after being diagnosed with rheumatic fever and beginning an intense regime of antibiotics, having a child biologically just felt too risky.
Long story short, we decided to pursue an adoption in 2016, and brought our beautiful daughter, Milliana, home in March 2017! It was quite a whirlwind! We received Milliana’s birth mother’s profile on a Wednesday afternoon, quickly put our “Yes” on the table to present our profile book to her, and I secretly began packing our bags! I just knew in my heart that she was ours! We received the call that Mama “M” had chosen us to parent Milliana the following afternoon! Milliana had already been born, so we quickly planned a trip from Tennessee to Hawaii, called our families, and jumped on a plane to go meet her that Friday morning! Becoming her parents has been the absolute biggest joy and blessing!
We had no doubts that we would fall deeply in love with our daughter the moment we met her, but one thing we did not expect was how deeply we would fall in love with her first family and culture as well! We have been so blessed to have an open adoption with Milliana’s first family, including her birth mother, grandmother, aunts, uncles, and lots of cousins! We have learned so much about her culture and heritage, and have enjoyed incorporating her first family’s traditions into our own. We have the utmost respect for Milliana’s birth mother, and the absolutely selfless and difficult decision she made to give her life through adoption, rather than choosing abortion, when she knew she couldn’t parent her. This is exactly why we have felt called to adopt – to support birth mothers and fathers who are making the ultimate sacrifice for their child.
Fast forward two years, and here we are now! We have decided to grow our family through adoption once again, and are just waiting to be matched with an expectant mama! We prayerfully decided to specifically pursue an adoption of another Marshallese child so that Milliana has a sibling that shares her beautiful heritage! Milliana cannot wait to become a big sister, and we cannot wait to welcome another child into our little family! Thank you for following along with us, and for your support! We are so grateful for our ever-growing “village” that has supported us through Milliana’s adoption, and now this one as well!
I hope you enjoyed the story as much as we did. Now, on to the other reason you come here – the bows! As usual, just click on the photo to purchase!
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“It takes a village.” This has been the consistent theme crucial to making both of our adoptions possible. We have relied heavily upon our “village” for support – spiritual, physical, emotional, and financial. Without our village – and all of y’all – helping support us, we wouldn’t have been able to make our dream of adopting come to fruition. We like to think of these adorable rainbow homes as representing our village!
Who doesn’t need some rainbow confetti in their lives? The overall rainbow color palette we chose for these bows reminds us of the bittersweet nature of adoption. There must be a storm in order to have a rainbow, and it is because of the storm a brave and selfless expectant mother endures that we get to experience the rainbow. The magnitude of that truth is not lost on us.
Our daughter is Marshallese, and has a natural affection and affinity for the water. Since adopting her, we have come to learn about, love, and respect so much about the Marshallese culture, and want to ensure she, and her future siblings, know all about the heritage from which they come. These waves represent and honor the island culture our family has now absorbed as part of our own!
Thank you so much for reading and, more importantly, helping this wonderful family with their adoption. I can’t wait to write this check!
