Elizabeth “Betsy” (Caprio) Graham ’10 and her husband Tom prayed for a child for four years. After two heartbreaking miscarriages, they had considered adoption but were still unsure. Then in 2014, they were stationed in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, where Graham’s husband is an endodontist for the U.S. Army. They attended a local church gathering one night to listen to the stories of several families who had successfully adopted children. Excited about the possibility, the Grahams applied at a local adoption agency the next day, completing the necessary home study, documentation and background checks. Then, they waited and prayed. Close friends of the couple had adopted a boy from Korea, and the Grahams witnessed the process of foreign adoption. So, at the beginning of 2015, the Grahams sent their adoption packet to Korea. Within two months, they were paired with a six-month-old child. “The beauty of adoption is that it is not about you,” said Graham. “It’s all about the Lord, how the Lord brought this son into our lives. He doesn’t look like us, but he is a Graham, by the grace of God.” Then, they waited some more and prayed even harder. The child who they named John Judah Minsu –JJ for short—needed a visa approved by the U.S. before he could travel. While seeing a photograph of their child and choosing a name for him was something to hold onto, nothing in the Grahams’ power could make the process happen faster. “You begin to form an emotional attachment and start praying for him,” explained Graham. “I had to entrust JJ to God every day, believing he was going to take care of my son until I could.” Meanwhile, the couple missed JJ’s milestones—his first words, first steps, first birthday. Finally, in December of 2015, they flew to Seoul, South Korea, for an adoption court date and to meet their son, who was now 18 months old. They visited JJ at a foster home, where he was in the care of an elderly woman. “We kept saying, ‘Wow, this is our child.’ We immediately fell in love with the Korean people and were proud our son was born in Korea,” she said. In January of 2016, they returned to Korea to bring their son home. The initial transition was not easy for JJ. He grieved his foster mother, cried at night and did not enjoy U.S. food. The Grahams had witnessed his smiles during their visits to Korea and knew their son would smile again. After three weeks, they began to see a bond starting to form. One of the biggest challenges was the hit-the-ground-running parenting. Even though JJ is almost two, the Grahams have been his parents for only six months. “You grow with your baby when you have one, but when you are adopting, you are jumping in,” said Graham. The Grahams say they want people to find hope that infertility is not the end. “Adoption is a beautiful option,” said Graham. “We have seen the faithfulness and goodness of the Lord and are changed for the better.” — Gabrielle Kurtz ’18