Karen’s bio:
Karen and her husband, Dirk, reside in Indiana and they have two fun loving boys, the youngest who was adopted at birth with the assistance of Christian Adoption Consultants. Karen is a compassionate adoptive mother and also a courageous birth mother. She loves connecting with expectant/birth mothers and fathers as well as adoptive families to hear their stories, pray with them, and help guide them in their unique adoption journeys ahead.
Karen’s story:
Over twenty years ago, life was much different for me than it is today. I was a young teenage girl living a secret life, emotionally and physically scarred, in a dysfunctional family. Today, I thank God for being my Rock and Savior through it all. My scars are healed as they have turned into beauty marks. My emotional & physical suffering has been set free through my faith walk with God!
Due to family hurts and emotional/physical scarring, I was led astray and had an unhealthy view of males. In those early teen years, I lived a sinful life of lust and unhealthy relationships, which led to an unplanned pregnancy. I was in denial, scared and alone. Due to the mixture of emotions and very little support, I made the difficult decision to place my baby for adoption.
For approximately 15 years, I hid behind a wall of shame and guilt and pretended the pregnancy and adoption did not happen. I buried everything deep down in my soul since the pregnancy was never discussed any further with my family or friends. I was absolutely alone with this secret until I met my husband in 2006. Dirk was the first man to accept me for who I was and did not waver on my past faults. At that time, I was finally able to seek appropriate help and healthy relationships and begin breaking down the wall of shame. As I shared with him my story, Dirk opened his heart for me in so many ways. He has been supportive of me and the choice I made to place my son for adoption.
In the last 8 years my relationship with God has grown stronger and He has encouraged me to share my story with family members, close friends, and the church body. I have also had the opportunity to share my story with other women and men that have faced unplanned pregnancies by being a volunteer advocate at a non-profit Christian based pregnancy center for 2 years and just recently an assistant with Embrace Grace/ Embrace Life ministry through our Church. It has been with great joy and some heartache to share with others and help other women through their journey of becoming birth mothers or adoptive mothers. I feel as if a heavy burden has been lifted off my shoulders and I am able to live a healthy and positive life by continuing to share my story. I truly respect and admire a birth mom for her courage of choosing life for her child.
I have been married for 11 years now and we were blessed with our first son, 8 years ago. After trying to conceive again for four years with no success, we knew that God was not done with growing our family just yet. We felt in our hearts we had more love to give and we faithfully believed that adoption was the next step for us in order to grow our family of three. In August 2016, we were elated to adopt our son. We are beyond blessed that God brought him into our family! Each adoption is unique in its own way, bundled up with a special love for a child of God. Adoption has been such an important part of my life story and I look forward to working with CAC families to help them through their adoption journeys.
