This week a patient of mine, from a few years ago, emailed me to tell me that she and her husband have adopted a little boy from Vietnam. Her email bubbled over with the expected excitement but also a tone of completeness - they completed a long journey to parenthood and with that comes a chance to exhale, slow the journey, and enjoy the moment of achievement. I thought all along that they would be the best kind of parents, but in their situation, the chance of conceiving a biological child was low. When fertility treatments didn't work, they decided to pursue adoption. After years of "adoption proceedings and a lot of frustration and patience, love has conquered all."

On the same day I received her email, a friend of mine from high school, with whom I am "Facebook friends," posted a link to a moving letter titled "Dear Moms of Adopted Children." Reading this post was a good reminder that the route to adoption is filled with many of the same emotions as the journey through fertility treatments: the testing, the visits, the worry. Fortunately for most women the end of the fertility journey is a positive one.

If your journey is toward adoption, the best place to start is the Adoptive Families Association of BC. I hope it has a positive ending!

Happy Mother's Day to biological mothers, adoptive mothers, donor egg mothers, and however else you have become a mother. To all our patients - if you aren't a mother today, we hope you will be by next Mother's Day!