“I’ve always been drawn toward social justice issues. I vibe off a cause. My master’s degree is in Labor Relations and earlier in my career, I lived near Harrisburg and worked in labor relations for the Commonwealth. Then my husband and I relocated to Pittsburgh and my attention shifted to raising our four kids.
I had a close friend growing up who was adopted; and, throughout college, I was involved with a home for children whose parents were incarcerated. I have a soft heart for kids in hard places.
Our first child was a ‘safe haven’ baby. Being foster parents at the time, I got a call out of the blue to come to the hospital; her birth mom had dropped her off clothed in a dress and wrapped in a blanket. A week later, she came home with us. We think of birth mom quite a bit and always give thanks.
Initially, we had wanted to adopt from Haiti but there were legal barriers. One day I was sharing my daughter’s adoption story at a friend’s church and randomly met a caseworker from Bethany Christian Services. I casually asked her about Haitian adoptions and, as chance would have it, the agency had just been notified a day earlier they would be opening up for Haitian adoptions.
We were the first family to sign up, and our son came home at age two. We refer to our daughter and son as ‘functional twins’—they’re only eight days apart in age, and they brought each other together. Our family was completed by our two bio children—our daughter, who was born in between adoptions, and our son a few years later.
In 2020, I completed Duquesne University’s paralegal program from my basement during COVID. When I saw the paralegal job posting with the Adoption Legal Services Project, I was so excited! The job seemed perfectly made for me.
I really, really love my job! It’s incredibly meaningful to work on the adoptions, consider what the families are thinking, and share from my own experiences. Being in the courtroom for adoption day each month always makes my heart happy!”
- Sara, Paralegal
