We announced our plans to my extended family today at the 4th picnic. We were actually nervous going into it - I think for Doug, it was a matter of "it's completely real now!" For me, I honestly was worried about reactions.

Shouldn't have been, though. Everyone was thrilled, very little was said about the WHY of the matter. My grandma, especially, was pleased - actually got teary when she read our announcement. Now she's seen all 6 of her grandchildren prepare for children of their own.

Thinking, on my comment just now, though... the WHY of the matter isn't a fact of embarrassment to us... I guess it's a private thing, and we neither want to explain it or have people make assumptions. Everyone has their own way of handling a difficulty like ours, I suppose. Some people want to blame, or would give "helpful" suggestions.

We already had to come to terms with a lot since January, and do a lot of soul-searching and grieving, as it were. We're happy to be on the road to adoption now, and hopefully everyone can come along and be happy too!