After military service in Germany (1960–1963), I traveled from New York City to California with a stop in Chicago to visit relatives. It was while in Chicago that I met Marilyn, and three years later, in 1966, we were married in California in a non-denominational church, although Marilyn was Catholic and came from a large…
For as long as we can remember, we – Megan and Joseph – have always wanted to be parents. For 8 years we worked on starting our family. Years of failed fertility treatments, multiple rounds of IVF, even surrogacy, brought on a season of grief and loss for us. We were feeling defeated, our hope…
By Lydia (Sid) Johnston Not flesh of my flesh, nor bone of my bone, but still miraculously my own. Never forget for a single minute, you didn’t grow under my heart but in it. Fleur Conkling Heyliger Julian and Jennie Sid were married after the war and in time learned they would not have biological…
Established in Hungary in May of 1923, the Sisters of Social Service, well known for their work in nursing, midwifery, and orphanage services, came to the United States later that year and founded the Sisters of Social Service in Los Angeles in 1926. HFS and the Sisters of Social Service (the Sisters) have a three-decade-long…
My connection to adoption is lifelong. My older sister is adopted, and it was such a normal thing in our family’s life that as a child, I remember thinking every family must have an adopted child in it. After our first son was born, my husband and I worked with HFS to adopt our second son, who has grown into a wonderful, mature, kind, intelligent, athletic, empathetic 23-year-old young man.
Most of the adoption process is a private matter. Adoptive parents make the choice to form a family through adoption, a birth parent makes the decision to choose adoption for their child, and the HFS social worker staff members shepherd everyone through a complex and exacting process. However, when it comes to the relinquishment and…
Have you ever wondered what happens during the Adoption finalization process? For those of us who aren’t familiar, the finalization of a child’s adoption marks the finish line of the adoptive parent and child’s journey. When a court issues a decree of adoption, your relationship as parent and child is permanently and legally bound. Finalization…
Hello, my name is Jay, and I have had the privilege of working for HFS for the last 7 months in my time with Holy Family Services as their Social Media Manager, I have learned an overwhelming amount of information regarding Foster Care and Adoption. So you can only imagine how moving it was when…