November is National Adoption Month. To highlight the importance of adoption and its impact, Parentology is sharing the stories of people around the country whose lives were forever changed because of it.
For Sylvia Carrillo, adoption was the answer to having the child she had always wanted.
Sylvia’s Story
Sylvia Carrillo says she always felt like she was meant to be a mother. At 41 years old, she was unmarried and no closer to starting a family. Carrillo’s sister said single shouldn’t be an obstacle, encouraging her to look into adoption.
“In addition, I started having health issues, and my ability to have a child was being called into question,” Carrillo tells Parentology.
Carrillo decided to go the foster-to-adopt route because she wanted to be sure that she could handle a child after living on her own for so long. Her sister introduced her to a couple who had fostered through a California-based adoption agency, Five Acres. After speaking with them, Carrillo decided to complete the training and start the process.
Preparing for Adoption
Carrillo was traveling in Spain in October of 2017 when she got a call that there was a baby boy likely in need of a permanent adoptive family. In her heart, Carrillo knew in the baby would be her son. She hopped on a plane and headed home. Waiting to meet her — Christopher, who was seven days old.
“What a wild ride!” Carrillo remembers. “I was more exhausted than I’d even been, yet I surprisingly took to motherhood easily; my sister came by almost every day for the first week and was shocked I had it all under control.”
When Christopher was 3½ years old a judge legally declared him Carrillo’s son.
The morning after the adoption was finalized Christopher asked his mother, “Mom, you’re a Carrillo, right? And I’m a Carrillo now, right?” When she told him yes, he replied, “So, we’re BOTH Carrillos, right?”
“It melted my heart because I knew it meant as much to him as it meant to me,” Carillo says. “Having this amazing little light in my life forever changed me for the better.”
Although the entire process took 3 ½ years, Carrillo says adoption is incredibly rewarding. Although some days will be easy and some will be hard, she finds the most important thing to remember is that, at the end of it all, when the child is legally yours, it will all have been worth it.
Christopher is now in kindergarten and reading at a first-grade level. He acts in commercials and his mom says he’s “absolutely thriving.” She says she is open with him about the adoption process — something he proudly shares with others.
“You won’t love a child any less because they’re not biologically yours,” Carrillo says. “You are theirs, and they are yours; nothing will ever break that bond.”
National Adoption Month: Sources
Sylvia Carrillo
Five Acres