by Amy Carroll     

    Although adoption had been on Nikki Esquivel’s heart for years, it wasn’t until 2004 that all the pieces fell into place.  Their family had seemed complete with their son Aaron and their daughter Elliana.  One Sunday, though, the pastor of Village Church in Holly Springs preached a sermon on the value of each life.  Anthony Esquivel said to Nikki on the way home, “If we really believe what was said today, then we should do something about it.” The whole family now felt the need to put their belief in action.

     The Esquivels had already been a visiting resource to Falcon Children’s Home, but in the following months, Anthony and Nikki became licensed foster parents in Wake County.  The family found this kind of service difficult, however. “Knowing that the child was looking forward to reuniting with the family and would be going back soon made it really hard to invest everything needed to do a good job.  For us, fostering wasn’t exactly the right way to go,” explains Nikki. 

     While the family continued seeking a way to serve children, Anthony met a family at Arbor Creek Park that had adopted a Philippino child through Christian Adoption Services.  Anthony, who is originally from the Philippines, was immediately intrigued.  The Esquivel family decided to begin the process to adopt a child from an orphanage in Anthony’s home country.

     Nikki threw herself into completing the extensive paperwork, and accomplished that feat after three months of full-time work.  The agency required medical exams for each member of the family, criminal background checks, a home study and letters from each biological child along with the completion of many forms.  “Your family is completely laid open for everyone to read about…to make sure that the child comes into the most favorable environment.  Everyone has to be on board,” Nikki remembers.

     By the next summer, the family received word that their new son, Kyle, was ready to come home.  Nikki and Anthony sent word to friends and family as the excitement built.  The entire family traveled to the Philippines to bring Kyle home.

     Kyle was almost four years old but had rarely left the orphanage.  Most of the adjustments came from adapting to life in a family instead of an institution.  Nikki explains, “He sat in bed and waited hours.  He would need something, but he would never come.  He almost never cried.”  He was used to dealing with problems on his own.  “About a year after coming home, though, we saw the emergence of bonding,” reports Nikki.  

     The joys of Sesame Street and Blues Clues returned to the Esquivel family.  Nikki glows as she remembers, “It was a miracle.  I had some fears about being able to love an adopted child–when the bonding would happen or if I’d feel like I was babysitting.  It was a miracle that God put it in our hearts to love him just as much as the other two.” 

     A second adoption came along in a much different way.  Lemuel, a child who had two previous disrupted placements, joined the family a year later.  Because of the rejection and upheaval that Lemuel had experienced, the adjustment period after the adoption was much more difficult.  Dramatic changes have taken place in the year following his adoption, though, and the family now feels unified again. 

     The Esquivels encourage other families to open their hearts and homes to adopted children.  It is worth facing the challenges of finances, paperwork and family adjustment.  Adoption builds up the people involved.  “It’s a very humbling experience….It is a venture in giving up all of yourself,” says Nikki.  But she quickly adds, “There is a joy that comes from doing God’s will no matter what arena that you’re doing it in.”  She advises those considering adoption to read everything available but to read with perspective instead of fear. 

     Adoption has enriched the lives of the Esquivel family as well as everyone who knows them.  For more information about the adoption process, Christian Adoption Services can be contacted at www.christianadopt.org.