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Kylie, 38 and husband Pete adopted their daughter, now seven, five years ago with the support of North Wales Adoption Service. Just over two years later, they welcomed their son. Now three, through adoption. This is their story…

I grew up talking about and knowing adoption because my mum was adopted. It was always something we spoke so openly about, and it is always something I thought I would do one day. 

When I was 11 months old, I had acute myeloid leukaemia. I was so lucky that with treatment I got better. However, going through treatment for it at such a young age impacted my fertility.

When it was time for me and my husband to start thinking about having a family, the doctors advised it was unlikely I’d get pregnant naturally. They said my eggs were closer to those of a 60-year-old than a 30-year-old. We tried IVF a few times, which was intense, and sadly, it didn’t work.

We took some time to heal, to recover both emotionally and physically from what we went through, and to get ourselves back to normal. Then I just woke up one morning and I knew. I went across the road to my mum’s house, I knocked on the door, and I told her I was ready. She said, “Ready for what?” And I replied, “To adopt.” She wasn’t surprised at all, she knew it would come one day, but she was surprised that the knock came at 6.30am in the morning. It was like something clicked and I knew it was time. 

I was dreading the process, the training, and the speaking about my previous traumas that I had overcome. I didn’t want to bring anything back up again, but I just clung onto the fact that at the end of all of this, I was going to be a mum. It wasn’t as much as I had built up in my head, and every form or question I sorted out straight away, I wanted to get it done as quickly as possible.

From the first phone call to our little girl coming home was exactly one year, which was quite fast and we had been told it could take much longer. It was surreal, having this child in my house that I had to care for. But it all came naturally to me, it was bizarre, and life has never been the same again since. 

She was just a few weeks away from turning two when she joined our family, and she did find it a bit hard to settle. I decided not to go back to work once my nine months of adoption leave was up because she just wasn’t ready. There was a lot going on in that first year, living with us, then starting school, it was right for us and our family that I stayed at home with her. 

I remember the moment she first called me mum. It took about six weeks. We were playing peekabo and I said, “Where’s mum?” And she just said it, “Mum!” It was just amazing; I’ll never forget that moment. 

Exactly two years to the day that she came home to us we made the phone call to start the process all over again. Our son joined us a year later; he was 11 months old at the time. It was wonderful getting to experience so many of his firsts. From crawling to walking to his first tooth and sleeping through the night. 

Our daughter was so excited, she helped us get everything ready, hanging clothes in his wardrobe. When he came home, she turned into a little mum, helping me change his nappy and checking when it was time for a bath or bed. Now they are like any other set of siblings, they play together, they love each other, they fight, they hate each other! 

It can be hard, both during and after the adoption you will face challenges, but you meet people along the way who are also on a similar journey to you, other adopters and your social workers, people who are there to talk to and not just about adoption. We feel like we are so lucky to have our children. It is so rewarding, I would encourage anyone looking to adopt to just do it, make that phone call, you won’t regret it.