This guest post is by Ana, a hopeful adoptive parent.
As a hopeful adoptive family, have you ever considered making an adoption profile video?
I’m here to tell you that if you haven’t already, you should!
Here are six reasons why making an adoption profile video could be one of the most valuable things you do on your adoption journey.
1. It gives you an outlet to actively do something during your wait.
Let’s be honest, the often long wait to build or complete your family through adoption can really bring you down. It can certainly bring me down on any given day.
But one thing I’ve learned during this process is how much better I feel if our family finds new and creative ways every day to stay active during the wait.
One of the best ways we’ve come up with was creating an adoption profile video. We found that making the video was totally absorbing, deeply meaningful, and really empowering.
2. You get to feel proud of yourself, where you live, and the kind of life you can offer a child.
Get inspired by what you love and where you live. What are your hobbies? How do you spend your spare time?
Shoot some quick footage of that all-day soccer tournament you’re playing in this weekend, while you work on your latest knitting creation or while you take a stroll around your neighborhood. How about where you live?
I’ll bet there is loads of natural beauty surrounding you. Does your city have an awesome skyline you could capture? Do you live near mountains? The ocean? A scenic lake or river? How about picturesque farmland?
The point is that your life is full of wonderful things you can be proud of and your adoption profile video is the perfect place to showcase them. Who knows, you might just give a special someone the opportunity they need to get excited about you too!
3. You get to learn a new skill.
Chances are you’ve never collected and compiled footage, spent time editing, or completed a video project before. That’s okay.
You’re definitely not alone. I never had either, but now that I’ve done it once I’m super excited to do it again. It was fun!
My husband and I kept it simple and used a point and shoot camera with a video function to collect our footage (you could use an iPhone just as easily) and Windows Movie Maker (standard with a regular Windows package) to complete the editing.
We uploaded the completed video to Youtube and that was it! It’s not hard to do, I promise. And once you do it once, you’ll know how to do it forever.
4. If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is worth a million.
Video is special. No doubt about it.
Still photographs are wonderful, but video can provide heaps of additional information that an expectant parent viewing your profile might not gain access to otherwise.
And that extra information is really important-–-the tone of your voice and how you move and relate to your partner can really tell a lot about you and who you are as a family. Think of video as an opportunity to share more.
5. It sets you apart.
As a hopeful adoptive family, there’s nothing like making a video to say “I’m trying my best”.
It shows that you want to share your life, make yourself available, and that you’re willing to put effort and time into facilitating those things. In short, it shows you care.
I’m not an expectant parent or a birth parent, but I’ve heard from friends who are. So many have said that the effort and care spoke volumes to them during their decision-making process. It matters!
6. It’s an opportunity to connect with the first family of your future child before you’ve even had the honor of meeting them.
Choosing the parts of your life to show, gathering the footage, figuring out the editing program, thinking about and finally deciding on your favorite song to go with it…
The whole thing gives you a creative and meaningful outlet to express all the love, excitement and hope you already feel for your future child, his or her first family, and adoption in general.
When we made our video, I kept imagining it was our “love letter” to the expectant parent we are meant to connect our lives with. I still think of it that way and hope they get it soon!
So I hope I’ve inspired you to make an adoption profile video of your own. Go on, give it a try!
You won’t regret it, I promise.
Ana, her husband, David, and biological daughter, Molly, live in Clarksburg, California, a small town just 15 miles south of Sacramento with their two dogs, two cats, and five chickens.
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