Your cart is currently empty!
Foster Parent Shares the Pain of Parting with a Cherished Child
Being a parent is an incredible journey filled with immense challenges, but fostering takes a unique resilience and strength. Welcoming a child into your home means opening your heart to the possibility of saying goodbye, a reality that many foster parents face.
Kate Johnson understands this heartache intimately. In a poignant post shared on the Facebook page Love What Matters, she opened up about the emotional turmoil of bidding farewell to a baby girl who had been part of her family for six months. “We lost the battle,” she wrote, clarifying that by “lost,” she meant she didn’t get the outcome she desperately wanted.
Kate’s family had welcomed this little girl into their lives, and now, she was set to reunite with her biological siblings. As Kate reflects on the transition, she worries about how the baby will adjust. “I hope they realize she’s a bit like the Princess and the Pea fairy tale, needing a soft pillow to sleep well,” she muses. “Will they discover that she loves to fist bump and blow it up before bed to make her giggle?”
Having introduced the baby to sign language, Kate feels a wave of sadness at the thought of all the lessons that will remain unfinished. “She’ll sign ‘please’ when she’s hungry, but we never got to ‘thank you,’” she laments.
Explaining this departure to her own son proved challenging. “But we’re her brothers,” he responded, leaving Kate to grapple with the confusing emotions. “It just doesn’t make sense,” she admits, feeling the weight of this reality herself.
In preparation for the farewell, Kate showers her foster daughter with love, filling her sippy cup and giving her a soothing lavender bath. “I hugged her tightly, knowing she loves hugs but hates being held too long,” she shares. “I wonder how long it will take her new family to figure that out.”
Her heartfelt reflections reveal the depth of her sorrow. “The heartbreak is overwhelming tonight; the tears won’t stop,” she writes. “This first loss is more painful than I ever imagined.” Despite this, Kate expresses her unwavering commitment to fostering. “When that familiar number calls again, asking if we’re ready to welcome another child in need, my answer will always be ‘Absolutely. Let’s do this.’”
In the end, even amidst the heartbreak, the experience of fostering brings a profound sense of fulfillment. To read more about parenting journeys and emotional stories, check out our other blog posts on topics like home insemination and family life here. For those seeking more information on insemination options, Make A Mom is a fantastic resource. Additionally, if you’re interested in understanding female infertility, Drugs.com offers excellent support and information.
In summary, Kate’s heartfelt journey into fostering illustrates both the joy of opening one’s heart and the pain of inevitable goodbyes. Her story reminds us that while fostering can be profoundly challenging, the love shared is always worth the risk.