Launch Day The Gift of Identity

Today is the day. My first GIVE of 365 days of giving. I am somewhere between excited and terrified. My first GIVE to launch this journey is in honour of my son, Nicolas. I am starting today because it is Nic’s birthday. He has turned the ripe old age of 3 and he is the greatest gift I have ever received in my life.

We adopted our son. My husband and I tried for many years to have children naturally and were soon told by a fertility doctor that our chances of getting pregnant naturally ranked up there with the small miracles in the world. After many months of conversation, research and soul searching, we decided, as a couple, that adoption would be the path right for us.

We had just moved to British Columbia and we knew that there are thousands of children here in Canada that needed a forever home (as it is called in the adoption world). Our adoption story is a wonderful one, I like to think of it as our own personal miracle (the details are ideal for an adoption blog). Very shortly after starting the long adoption journey with the Ministry of Children and Family Development, we were blessed with a beautiful baby boy who was born on this day and came home at 11 weeks old.

This GIVE is to honour our son and children all over the world that don’t have a forever family.  Millions of children are in desperate situations and need all over the world. Millions are born with no identity and no family. They don’t know where they came from, their birthday or who their parents are. So today, as my first GIVE, I am giving a child his own identity.

Day 1  / GIVE 1

If you have haven’t been onto the Plan Canada site go take a look. There are so many great options to help a child, a family, or an entire village. Today, I purchased a birth certificate for a child. You may be wondering how that could impact a child’s life so I have taken an excerpt right from the pages of the Plan Canada site to fully explain the impact of my GIVE.

“It’s more than just a piece of paper. It’s legal armour: proof of existence, and protection against child trafficking, exploitation and abuse. It’s also a key that opens the door to social, educational and political rights. It’s a simple document we take for granted in Canada, but every year 48 million children are not registered at birth.”

Yes, I could have bought my son the latest gadget or plastic toy that he will soon forget, but instead I will teach him about what I have done in his honour. Not only is a child across the world getting a gift but I get the great opportunity of teaching my son about giving back at the same time. He will still get his cake and balloons  (which is exactly what he has asked for) but he’ll also get a much bigger gift – the story about all the people his life has touched – our family,  the people in our community, and now, a child in need.

Happy Birthday Master Nicolas. We love you from the bottom of our hearts.

P.S. This GIVE took me 3.5 minutes to get online before my son even got up this morning.