We made the decision to adopt about three years ago, officially beginning our journey on April 8, 2018. Little did we know, our daughter had been born just three days earlier—and abandoned in the NICU. From that moment, Shane and I often found ourselves imagining what she must have been feeling, wondering what battles she was fighting alone, and praying that somehow she felt a sense of not being completely alone. As a couple, we had always known we wanted to adopt. From high school onward, it had been a priority in our lives. Shane’s brother was adopted from Uganda, and I had spent time volunteering in orphanages, so the idea of welcoming a child into our family through adoption had always felt like a calling. After having our first biological child, we knew our next step would be to adopt, allowing our children to grow together with only a small age gap and form a family complete with love and connection.
We found an agency and ultimately chose India because of its large orphan population. Our decision to pursue international adoption was influenced by two things: the firsthand experience of Shane’s brother’s adoption and the belief that, despite its imperfections, the Indian government provides children in foster care with opportunities for a successful future. And of course, we were eager to pour our love into a child who needed it.
After about a year of waiting and completing what felt like an endless mountain of paperwork, we were matched with our daughter in early October 2019. At just 18 months old, she weighed about 8 pounds and had the most captivating eyes that immediately drew us in. She had been born prematurely and abandoned in the NICU, where she spent her first three months of life fighting for survival with incredible medical staff and a resilient spirit. When we received her medical records, we were overwhelmed. Questions flooded our minds: What would her life look like? Could we provide everything she needed? Yet, through it all, we felt certain she had been placed with us for a divine reason.
We were scheduled to appear in Indian court to obtain custody in March 2020—but then COVID-19 hit. Everything in India shut down, even more strictly than in the United States. Months passed—April, May, June, July—without any real progress or word from our lawyer. Updates were sparse, telling us she was healthy and virus-free, but few pictures and little detail reached us. My heart ached with each passing day, especially at night, knowing that the sun was rising where she lived, and she had no idea who we were or how deeply we loved her. Was she crying in her crib? Did someone hold her, kiss her, feed her? I began writing letters to her, journaling everything I longed to say so that one day she could read them and understand the depth of our love during the long months apart.
Nearly a year went by before we had our first court hearing, which finally took place in November 2020. On December 18, 2020, we were granted custody—a moment that felt like the beginning of the end of our long wait.
We planned to travel in February 2021, collecting documents and donations for the orphanage along the way. The final step was obtaining our visas, which we had submitted about ten days prior to receiving verbal approval. Confident they would arrive by the end of the week, we booked our flights. And then Texas froze over. Snowstorms, electricity outages, burst pipes—and in the chaos, our visas were lost. With our flight scheduled from Houston on Wednesday, roads remained icy, mail delivery halted, and phone lines were down. Repeated calls and emails to the Indian consulate went unanswered.
Seeing the fear in my eyes, Shane made the bold decision to drive an hour to the consulate. A train blocked the final mile, forcing us to walk through snow and ice. We arrived, only to find locked doors and no signs of life. Exhausted, defeated, and on the brink of despair, Shane encouraged me to pack and prepare as though we would leave the next day, and then make one final attempt to secure the visas. Miraculously, a janitor checking the pipes let us in. Once inside, we told our story to a staff member, who quickly located our visas. Tears, hugs, and gratitude flowed freely—we had them! We raced straight to the airport, calling my mom mid-drive in disbelief, screaming, “We have the visas! We are going to get our baby!”
Travel itself was challenging, but ultimately uneventful compared to the hurdles we had faced. We arrived in our daughter’s state on February 19, 2021, and received a call that the orphanage wanted us to meet her that very evening. A short taxi ride later, we were standing in front of the small, well-kept orphanage, dedicated to children with medical needs, many under the age of two. The staff’s warm smiles reassured me that our baby had been cared for tenderly during those long nights.
Then, there she was. Carried into the office, wide-eyed, jet-black hair shining, examining us all, especially her sister. She was no longer a photo on a screen—she was real, right in front of us, breathing the same air. I introduced myself and she smiled—a small, beautiful gesture that sent me into tears of joy. The next day, we had the formal handover ceremony, and soon she was in my lap in the taxi, finally ours.
We named her Naina Hope Mylius. “Naina” means “eyes,” a perfect fit for her expressive gaze, and “Hope” captures the promise of her future—a life filled with love, security, and belonging. After nine more days of appointments and paperwork in Delhi, we finally returned to a thawed Texas, hearts full, family complete.
Our journey has been far from ordinary, but it has taught us patience, resilience, and the beauty of embracing every small moment. Naina is thriving—scooting around, learning sign language, building trust, and developing a personality as vibrant and sassy as her sister’s. She has always belonged here, and she knows it.
To anyone considering adoption: it is challenging, paperwork-heavy, and emotionally intense, but the rewards are beyond measure. These children matter. They feel love across continents and know, in time, that they are home. Our journey with Naina shows that even in the waiting, even in the chaos, even in the moments of despair, love wins. Every hurdle is worth it, because these children are worth it—they are precious, and they matter so, so much.
