It's been almost eight years since we brought our two eldest children home for good.

I think we thought we were at the end of a long journey but actually it turned out to be just the beginning. We had been told about a year and a half previously that birth children were not going to be possible for us, and after a lot of reflection, we felt adoption was the right thing to pursue for our family.

We decided to adopt with Adoption Focus, who were brilliant! The process of being approved as adopters can be laborious and intrusive, and while we did find it that way to a degree, Adoption Focus were efficient, helpful, informative and most importantly, kind. We felt like our social worker was on our side and wanted the best for us, and the children she would ultimately match us with.

Our son and daughter settled really well with us, although of course there are challenges too. Three years later we adopted again, and our youngest son joined the family - he is actually a birth half-sibling to our elder children. The process of adopting him went very smoothly, but he has significant needs and we have recognised that we need additional support.

The past few years have been incredibly challenging for the whole family, and the impact of this has been extreme, particularly for our eldest son. It's fair to say we were in crisis as a family. Thankfully, there was continued support from Adoption Focus, and we have also managed to obtain therapeutic help for both boys through the Adoption Support Fund, school, and children's mental health services, but it has been hugely difficult.

Throughout the last few years we couldn't have managed without the love and care of our families, who pray for us constantly, and have given us weekend respites despite living a long distance away from us. And our church family have walked the journey with us, with immense amounts of praying, listening, accommodating and loving our kids, and babysitting! Most of all, we are thankful to our heavenly Father, who has given us strength when we were weary, hope when we were hopeless and helped us to persevere when we are tempted to give up (or at least lie down for a while!)