On a cool Wednesday evening in March 2010, Craig was enjoying a night to himself at his home in Connecticut. His wife Cheryl was at her sister's house with her and her husband's new baby, who was just brought home from the hospital earlier that day. Little did Craig and Cheryl know, their own family was about to change that night as well.

Joe, Carlie and their 11-year-old son, Jalen, were sleeping soundly in a rented Manhattan apartment until 5:30 a.m. when their phone rang. Carlie quickly snatched the phone and answered it. Indeed, this was it - this was the phone call they had flown all the way from Kansas to New York City for. She knew the news would be good, but what she heard was even better. What was said to her were the sweetest, most unexpected words she had ever heard in her life. Right then and there, she was proven something she had always thought to be true: things do happen for a reason.

Jim and Stacey get a lot of interesting looks from bystanders they encounter on sidewalks or on the bike path through the park behind their house. Passersby often first notice the stroller, with Jim and Stacey's 5-month old son, Dylan, smiling back at them. Then they notice Stacey, who is clearly pregnant and probably due in mere months, but that's impossible. Right? That's what Jim and Stacey thought as well - Impossible.

The family tree is a symbol of pride, stability and tradition for many families. However, some prospective parents, particularly adoptive fathers, have concerns not necessarily about the family tree, but about their quest to carry on the family bloodline. What all adoptive families realize though is that just as blood is thicker than water, love is thicker than blood. Love is what the roots of any close family, biological or adoptive, is based upon, and is through which values and traditions are passed.While the bloodline may cease, the family will remain stronger than ever because of adoption - not in spite of it.This is Jason and Sara's adoption story.

Heidi, a hopeful mother to be, sat down in her seat and anxiously waited to depart from the Frankfurt, Germany airport. A few rows ahead of her was an empty seat - the one that was supposed to be occupied by her husband, Eric. One small mistake they had made resulted in Heidi finding herself about to make the flight from Germany to New Orleans, alone. And not only was she alone on a flight that was about to take her halfway around the world. She was alone on a trip to meet and return with her adopted newborn baby.

Robert and Heather, a married couple of 13 years, have helped a countless number of people around the world and have served our country to the best of their abilities for many years. However, for everything they have done for all of us, there was one thing that they needed help with in return: becoming parents.

Imagine starting a rollercoaster ride at the top of the hill, staring down at the track below without a chance to prepare or anticipate what's ahead. This is the ride Andy and Nancy took for not one but both of their adoptions.

Well over four out of every five adoptions at American Adoptions go exactly as planned - the birth mother chooses the best adoptive family for her adoption plan, the baby is born, the adoption is finalized, the birth mother and the adoptive family remain in contact through at least a semi-open adoption, and everyone is happy with the end result. For a select few adoptive families, however, there may be a few bumps in the road to parenthood; it is simply an inherent part of becoming a parent, both biologically and through adoption. While these obstacles may be difficult to handle emotionally during that time, those same families who stay with their adoption plan are guaranteed to be blessed with a child. These instances don't define their adoption - the child they ultimately adopt does. There is always a happy ending through adoption. This is the story of Scott and Tristen's adoption journey.

Thanks to American and Adoptions and a wonderful birth mother, we adopted Hailee Elizabeth in less than four months - our second child that we adopted through American Adoptions.

Where to start? This year has gone by so quickly! Let's go to the beginning of our journey. After years of waiting for an international adoption that ended with that country's borders closing to adoption, with broken hearts we turned toward the domestic adoption path.