Celebrating families
H
Church is a big part of the Goff family’s lives. From left are Tim, Graham, Sydnee and Michelle Goff.
November is Adoption Awareness Month BY LISA SAVAGE
igh school sweethearts Tim and Michelle Goff knew they wanted to marry and to have a family one day. They just didn’t know the path God would choose for them.
First, they became foster parents through the Department of Human Resources, thinking it would lead to adoption. They fostered 10 children over three years. “Those kids just weren’t ever available for adoption,” Michelle Goff says. “So we prayed about it and decided to move forward.” The Ardmore couple, now married for 28 years, did adopt two infant children who they have watched grow: Sydnee, 19, and Graham, 16.
They married in 1990, and after a couple of years, their friends started having kids. They figured they would, too. But it didn’t happen. So after fertility treatments and still no pregnancy, they thought about adoption. About the same time, they moved to Ardmore from Jackson County and opened Ardmore Carpets. “We didn’t necessarily want to be pregnant,” Michelle Goff says. “We just wanted a baby.” Tim Goff was adopted as a child, and the couple wasn’t opposed to that option. “We liked the idea of adoption because it had worked for me,” he says.
ADOPTION ISN’T EASY
8 | November/December 2018
Prospective parents consider a variety of approaches for adoption. After much research, the Goffs selected a facilitator in California called Lifetime Adoption, an organization that gave them greater flexibility in planning. As part of the process, they were able to speak to the organization's CEO, Mardie Caldwell. “She actually talked to us and said we should pray about it first,” Michelle Goff says. “Once we started the process, we felt at peace.” Prospective adoptive families must create a profile with information that can be viewed by birth parents considering adopArdmore Telephone Company
