Latest / Cristy M. Diaz Podcast Conversations from the Heart / An Adoption Story with Lindsey Brown

Transcript

An Adoption Story with Lindsey Brown · Cristy M. Diaz Podcast Conversations from the Heart

0:00
Good morning everybody. It's Thursday.
0:03
Took me a minute there. Welcome to
0:05
another edition of Mamas in Miami where
0:07
together we're navigating parenthood
0:09
with unwavering solidarity and fierce,
0:11
fierce love. Today we're going to have
0:13
Lindsay Brown on. She's the wife of Nina
0:15
Moss, who we spoke to earlier in the
0:17
week. She's got the most beautiful story
0:19
I cannot wait to share with you all. Um
0:22
I'm going to explain why I'm a few
0:24
minutes late. I want to excuse myself
0:26
with Lindsay as well. So, let me sign
0:28
her on and then I will discuss why I am
0:32
the reason we're starting a little late
0:43
today. Good morning, everyone.
0:48
Welcome. I am moreied. I am so
0:51
embarrassed. Don't worry. Don't worry.
0:53
It's not a big deal at all. I honestly
0:55
thought today was Wednesday when I got
0:57
to the office. So, it's all good. Jun
1:00
threw me for a number. But let me
1:01
explain to you to everybody why I'm late
1:04
joining this morning. So, as you all
1:06
know, I had a three-level spinal fusion
1:09
two months ago. And as a result, I
1:12
haven't been inside a supermarket in six
1:14
months. I've been depending on
1:15
Instacart. And um needless to say, this
1:19
was my first trip to Publix in six
1:21
months. And it was like a whole new
1:22
world to me. I lost track of time. But
1:25
here's what I'm so excited about you
1:26
guys. I am at the Publix out in Palmetto
1:29
Bay on 140 something in US1 and they
1:33
have come out with coconut milk,
1:36
evaporated coconut milk and evaporated
1:39
sweetened condensed milk and I am
1:43
severely lactose intolerant and cannot
1:45
remember the last time I had a roon
1:47
leche or flang. So, I went nuts at
1:51
Publix looking up every single non-dairy
1:54
um alternative to make all my Cuban
1:57
desserts. And I am so excited, you guys.
2:00
That's amazing. So, I am mortified. I'm
2:02
so embarrassed. I lost track of time
2:04
over something so trivial. But this is a
2:06
big deal to me because I can't remember
2:07
the last time I had a le benefits of
2:10
going to Publix over Instacart. I I
2:12
completely understand. Yeah, you never
2:14
would have found this on Instacart.
2:16
100%. Hi, Lindsay. Welcome to Mamas and
2:23
my on US one and 14ome cuz I only have a
2:28
couple minutes um between pick up and
2:31
drop off and I know you've got to pick
2:33
up your son Mateo. So, let's just dive
2:35
straight into this. I had no idea that
2:39
you had adopted a child. Yeah. Yeah. So,
2:42
we're actually a family of five. Pretty
2:44
wild.
2:46
Um, two babies and a 23y old. And how
2:50
old are you? I am four. I just turned a
2:53
couple days ago. 41. Happy birthday.
2:56
Thank you. Okay. Take us back to the
2:59
very beginning. I'm assuming that you
3:02
were a baby when you adopted your
3:05
daughter. Yeah. Yeah. I was really
3:07
young, so it's not a typical adoption
3:09
story. It wasn't that I was looking to
3:11
adopt a child or was trying to create a
3:14
family at that time. I um so Maggali is
3:18
from Ecuador and I actually visited
3:20
Ecuador with a group um from my high
3:23
school. It was when I was in college,
3:25
but I was like 19 or 20 and I went down
3:27
on this mission trip to a little pblo
3:29
right outside of Kito. It's called Mindo
3:31
where Maggali lived and grew up until
3:33
she was 14. So that's when I originally
3:36
met her. You met her at 14? No, no, no.
3:40
I met her she was 2 years old. Oh. Um,
3:43
and I was I can't remember if I was 19
3:45
or 20. Yeah. So, she was just a baby and
3:48
she was living in this school with her
3:50
siblings in this little
3:52
town. Um, and I can give you the whole
3:54
story. So, I went down on this mission
3:57
trip and I was kind of like, oh, you
3:58
know, I've never been to Ecuador. I'll
3:59
check it out. This sounds like fun. And
4:02
I fell in love with this little girl. I
4:04
She was 2 years old. She lived in this
4:06
school. It was run by nuns. And Maggali
4:09
has another family. She actually has
4:10
three older siblings who lived in the
4:12
school with her. So I spent two weeks
4:14
there with this group from Lords and I
4:17
got really attached to her and I got
4:18
really attached to her siblings as well
4:21
and um leaving after those two weeks was
4:25
really really hard. I remember we got
4:26
off the plane and my mom said my sister
4:29
was with me. She said, "You got off the
4:30
plane with these 15 other girls and all
4:32
the girls were like smiling and happy to
4:34
see their parents and you and your
4:35
sister were just balling crying saying
4:37
we left this kid and it was terrible. So
4:41
I ended up getting really involved in
4:43
the um Meno mission and with Mgali I
4:46
would call the school once a week to
4:48
talk to her and her siblings and I would
4:50
try to go down annually to visit them
4:52
and I kind of just became like a
4:53
godmother. I would help them from afar
4:56
just make sure their needs were taken
4:57
care of. And when Mgalli was 11, I was
5:01
27 and I finally kind of had my life in
5:04
order and I said, you know what,
5:06
um there were there were some struggles
5:08
going on down there and I just I wanted
5:11
to give her an opportunity. I wanted to
5:13
bring her over. So I said, I'm going to
5:14
file for adoption. So after I guess like
5:19
10 years of going back and forth down
5:21
there, I finally pulled the trigger and
5:23
I um filed for adoption. It was a really
5:26
really hard process. It took like 3
5:28
years and it all kind of worked out and
5:32
she she ended up moving to Miami and and
5:35
uh living with me. Okay. I I I have so
5:39
many questions. Go ahead. Sure.
5:43
You go with your high school Lord's
5:47
Academy, Our Lady of Lords. Lady of
5:50
Lords. Yeah. On a mission trip with the
5:53
school. Yeah. You meet a 2-year-old
5:56
little girl who you fall in love with.
5:58
Yes. And connect with 100%. Yep. You get
6:03
off that airplane and all you can think
6:05
of is this little girl. No. No. Yeah. It
6:08
was It was so hard leaving. I'll never
6:10
forget it. It was one of the hardest
6:11
things I've ever done. And you're a baby
6:14
yourself. Yeah, that's true. I was in
6:16
college. Yeah. So, you find all the
6:20
information and you start communicate.
6:22
Does she speak English at this point
6:23
when she's here? No, she didn't speak a
6:25
word of English when she moved here. The
6:27
girl is amazing. She went to high
6:29
school. She went to Lasel,
6:32
um, learned English, like made a bunch
6:34
of like she has she just graduated from
6:36
FIU with a degree in engineering a
6:38
couple weeks ago. Like she is the bomb.
6:42
She's done so well. But no, she doesn't
6:43
speak any English. Okay. Yeah.
6:48
Does she Okay. Wow. Wow. So, you decide
6:52
seven years later, you're 27 years old,
6:55
you're out of college, single gal, not
6:58
married. You decide, I want to adopt a
7:02
child. It How do you even process go
7:07
about that? I mean, do they just allow
7:10
for this to happen? Did you ask Malali
7:12
over the phone? Did you talk to her? How
7:14
How did that even come to It was It was
7:17
hard. Um, I always knew that I wanted to
7:19
bring her here. Like, that was never a
7:21
question. I was just a baby. Like, I
7:23
didn't have the means to do it. Um, so
7:26
once I finally had a job and a house and
7:29
kind of had my life together, I was
7:30
like, you know what? I think I can do
7:31
this. So, again, I had been really
7:34
involved in this uh mission group who
7:37
still does a ton of missions down to
7:39
Mindo these days. And there was an
7:41
attorney who I had gone on a few
7:43
missions with and he was an attorney in
7:46
Ecuador and in Miami. Um, so I reached
7:48
out to him and I was like, "Hey, Marcel,
7:51
this is what's going on." He knew about
7:52
my relationship with Mgalli. Do you have
7:54
any suggestions? Like, how would I even
7:56
look into this? And it all, even though
7:59
it was really difficult, kind of lined
8:01
up. He was like, "You know what? Let me
8:02
look into this for you." He had a
8:04
childhood friend who owned an adoption
8:06
agency in Ecuador who ended up being an
8:09
agency that I worked with and helped us
8:12
out. And it was difficult because again,
8:14
Mgalli does have two families. She's
8:16
actually in Ecuador right now with a
8:17
mission trip um group doing some work.
8:22
But so her parents were involved and we
8:25
had to have them, you know, sign certain
8:26
paperwork and that took probably a year
8:29
going through the courts and um and then
8:32
I had to do, you know, the home visits
8:34
and the psychological assessments and
8:36
the studies and the paperwork and it
8:38
took like 2 years and they told me once
8:40
it's time you're going to have to move
8:42
down there for a few months because
8:43
there's this rule in Ecuador where you
8:45
have to kind of like get to know the kid
8:46
and get adjusted which obviously I
8:48
already knew her but it was a little bit
8:50
they weren't used to this situation.
8:52
So I literally got a phone call one day
8:54
and they were like, "You need to move to
8:56
Ecuador next week for like 3 months."
8:58
And I was like, "Okay, okay." And I did
9:01
it and we went and um we stayed in Kito
9:04
for 3 months while we finished all the
9:06
paperwork and and it went in front of a
9:09
judge and they like declared her Maggali
9:12
Brown. Um and then she flew back with me
9:15
and it was amazing. It was really really
9:18
crazy. And we still go back to every
9:19
quarter every year and visit her
9:20
siblings and make sure that she knows,
9:23
you know, where she came from, which
9:24
obviously she's still really close with
9:26
them. She was old enough to to
9:27
understand, so it worked out. But to
9:29
answer your other question, yes, when I
9:31
decided I wanted to adopt her, I
9:33
actually was like, you know what? I'm
9:34
going to fly to Ecuador and make a trip
9:36
out of it and um talk to Maggali about
9:38
what she thinks and to her older
9:39
siblings. I didn't want them to feel
9:41
like I was taking Maggali and not them.
9:43
And um you know we cried and she was
9:45
super excited and they were super
9:47
excited and everybody was on board and
9:50
that's that's what happened. I cannot
9:53
imagine Mgalli's biological mother
9:57
giving you her greatest and I get
10:00
emotional because I think about it
10:01
myself like if I was in those shoes it's
10:05
the biggest gift you can give another
10:07
person is your child. Yeah. for for the
10:10
better for the and how selfless she is
10:13
to have put her daughter first, right? I
10:16
mean, it's really really complicated.
10:17
So, Maggali, yeah, she still has
10:20
relationships with them and and she
10:22
wasn't living with them at the time. She
10:24
was living in this school where she
10:26
lived from age two until the age that I
10:29
um that she moved in with me at 14. So
10:32
she was uh you know had her family and
10:35
all that stuff there but the nuns in the
10:37
school were doing raising her a lot as
10:38
well too. Yeah. Oh my god. And that
10:42
initial conversation that you had with
10:44
her that you said let's make this
10:46
official. Let me adopt you and bring you
10:48
to the United States.
10:51
What was her uh she just cried. She just
10:54
cried and cried. It was very very sweet.
10:56
And it was hard because I didn't I also
10:58
didn't want to make any false promises
11:00
because I knew how difficult this
11:01
process was going to be. So I was very
11:03
upfront at the beginning saying like,
11:04
"Hey, I'm going to try with everything I
11:06
have to do this. I don't know if it's
11:08
going to work, but I just want to make
11:10
sure that, you know, we're all on board
11:12
and and we all want the same things."
11:14
How did your family react? You're a
11:16
single woman out of college. Yeah. Just
11:18
starting your life. It was it was hard.
11:20
My mom um was very very understanding
11:23
because she had I after that first trip
11:26
we brought her to Mindo and showed her
11:28
and introduced her to Maggali. So my mom
11:30
had been on several trips and knew the
11:32
kids really well. So she was really
11:34
supportive just because she she
11:35
understood our relationship. A lot of my
11:37
family was like, "Lindsay, like you're
11:38
27, you're starting your life. What are
11:40
you doing adopting a teenager? Like
11:43
you're crazy." But it's funny now
11:44
because Maggali is such a vital part of
11:47
our family. They're like, "Wow, like how
11:48
did you know this?" like we we just
11:50
didn't know that we needed her. Um so I
11:53
I definitely got a little bit of push
11:55
back, but in the end they they were very
11:57
supportive. I'm really really lucky to
11:58
have such an amazing family. And how did
12:00
you you navigate those first couple
12:02
years with a a te I mean you you give
12:06
birth practically to a 14-year-old and
12:08
teenager with hormones and not speaking
12:10
the language and not knowing the country
12:13
and and the culture. How was that? It
12:15
was hard. I'm not going to lie. It was
12:17
harder than I ever could have imagined.
12:19
be. So, Maggalli was born in July, so
12:22
she's the youngest in her class. So,
12:24
when she came, I decided to hold her
12:25
back for a year so she would have a year
12:27
to learn English and she would just be
12:28
the oldest in her class. So, she ended
12:30
up going into eighth grade for a year.
12:32
And eighth grade is really hard. Kids
12:34
have their clicks like you already have
12:37
your groups. Um, so I put her at this,
12:40
it was actually a little Catholic
12:41
school, St. Michael. And the reason we
12:43
put her there was because I was friends
12:44
with the teacher and the teacher knew
12:46
her from Mindo. She's a part of the
12:47
family that's really really involved in
12:49
Mindo. So that was really helpful. But
12:51
it was hard. There were a lot of tears.
12:54
Um she had a hard time making friends
12:56
the first year. But at the same time,
12:59
the girl was such a hard worker from day
13:01
one. I remember her teachers used to use
13:03
her as an example and be like, "If this
13:05
child who doesn't speak English can get
13:06
A's in my class, how are the rest of you
13:09
kids not able to pass my class or get
13:11
A's?" Like, she busted her butt from day
13:14
one. Um and then once she went into
13:18
Lasal, which um we were able to get her
13:21
into Lasal because they were also a part
13:23
of the the Mindo Mission. So they kind
13:26
of understood and they were like, you
13:27
know, obviously she's not going to pass
13:28
an entrance exam without speaking
13:29
English, but they knew she was a smart
13:32
kid. They kind of made an exception. Um
13:34
but ever since she entered LEAL, like at
13:36
that point, her English was a little bit
13:37
better. Everybody was starting fresh.
13:39
She made a bunch of friends and it was
13:42
like a refresh. I would say that first
13:45
year there was a lot of a lot of
13:48
transitioning and of course, you know,
13:50
through those those teenage years, but
13:52
she made a great group of friends. She
13:55
played sports. She worked super hard. I
13:58
mean, she got into FIU. She busted her
14:01
butt. So, it went really, really well,
14:04
as well as could be expected. And and go
14:06
ahead and share with everybody her her
14:08
degree. She graduated from FIU now.
14:10
Yeah, she graduated Kumad with a degree
14:13
in mechanical engineering. So, she's on
14:15
the job hunt now. Pretty amazing. That's
14:17
amazing. when you brought her home from
14:20
Ecuador and um excuse my English, maybe
14:24
I'm not aware, but at the orphanage
14:26
where she was at or the the children's
14:27
home where she was at, was she getting
14:29
an education that was equivalent to 8th
14:32
grade here in the United States or was
14:34
she did she have a So, it's it's really
14:37
hard to understand because it's a it's a
14:39
very small rural town in Ecuador. So, I
14:43
of course I don't think their education
14:44
standards are quite the same. However,
14:46
they're very, very strict. And it turns
14:51
out holding her back, I I'm sure also
14:54
helped. But I think their education
14:56
standards are better than I expected
14:58
because she wasn't behind like I thought
15:00
she would be. And they teach them just
15:05
to be such hard workers. I mean, you do
15:08
your chores, you make your bed, you
15:09
sweep the floors, you do everything, you
15:11
do your own laundry. like kids are
15:13
adults at a much younger age over there,
15:15
which was also part of like the
15:17
life-changing experience when I went
15:18
like, "Oh my god, I'm used to being a
15:21
spoiled brat in Miami." And look at
15:22
these kids like they're eight and they
15:24
do everything. Um, so she just grew up
15:28
very very differently. So she learned
15:29
very quickly and she I remember her
15:31
coming over here. I actually read a
15:32
paper that she wrote when she was in
15:33
like 8th grade recently in English. It
15:35
was like her broken English and it was
15:37
like the kids here are all babies.
15:40
But it's true. They were just all, you
15:43
know, in their own little bubbles.
15:45
That's amazing. Your your testimony is
15:49
so beautiful. There's so many people, I
15:52
think, out there that I mean, first of
15:55
all, I think adoption is a vocation. And
15:59
I think so many people think of it as a
16:01
gorgeous, beautiful thing, something
16:03
that they would love to do, but at the
16:05
end of the day, they once they're kind
16:06
of at the altar, they they back out,
16:08
right? Or fear of the unknown, right?
16:11
Um, so the the fact that you followed
16:13
through all the way I I find just so
16:16
courageous, you know, because you don't
16:18
know which way it's going to go. It's
16:20
hard. Maybe I was young and naive. Who
16:22
knows? But um it's it's hard. I'm not
16:26
going to lie. Like those first couple
16:28
years were were really really difficult.
16:30
Um but they were so worth it. Like this
16:32
is like an amazing kid and she deserved
16:35
an opportunity and I'm so lucky to have
16:38
her. My family is so lucky to have her.
16:40
So, yes, it's difficult. Just like
16:42
raising kids is difficult. Um, but if
16:45
you can get past all that, I mean,
16:47
you're Maggalli is my kid. She's been my
16:49
kid since before she came to Ecuador. I
16:51
love her no differently than my other
16:52
children. Um, so I I can't imagine my
16:55
life without her. Yeah. Has I don't
16:58
know. Mali's Has Maggali's biological
17:01
family ever come to the US to spend time
17:03
with you guys? Um, it's a hard it's hard
17:06
to get them visas and stuff over there.
17:08
Um, we were able to get her older
17:10
sister. Her older sister was a lot like
17:13
her mom when she was a kid. Her name's
17:14
Anid and she's awesome. We're also very
17:16
close. Uh, and when I originally went to
17:19
Ecuador, Anid was 11, 11 or 12. And I
17:22
mean, it was part of my experience being
17:25
like, "Wow, Anid like takes care of her.
17:26
She does her laundry. She she pees the
17:29
bed and needs the one that changes it."
17:31
She was like her mom. I was like, "Oh my
17:32
god, this kid's 11." So, she was a huge
17:36
influence in her life. And yeah, we were
17:38
actually able to get her a visa to come
17:40
a couple years ago and she just came for
17:41
Mgalli's graduation which was awesome.
17:43
That's awesome. Yeah. So, I would love
17:46
to get her other siblings visas. So far,
17:48
we haven't had a lot of luck, but we'll
17:50
see in the future. That's a beautiful
17:53
thing that she was able to come and
17:55
witness her little sister Yeah. receive
17:58
a degree. It was great. Yeah. No, it was
18:00
awesome. It really was. It was really
18:02
nice having her and she's also a really
18:03
good kid. And she actually um
18:07
was so Maggali was the first in her
18:09
family to graduate college here and we
18:11
were able to get her sisters in school
18:13
over there. So they her sister was able
18:15
to graduate a couple months ago also
18:16
which was really nice. That's amazing.
18:19
Was um how did it work to be a single
18:24
mom essentially? So I mean it was really
18:27
complicated. So I was a single mom but I
18:30
had a lot of support from my parents and
18:32
my family which was really really nice.
18:35
Um, Maggali did not know that I was gay
18:38
when she came. So, that was that was a
18:42
tough transition and it was something I
18:45
struggled with during the um during the
18:48
adoption process because I was like, "Oh
18:50
my god, like what if she comes and she
18:51
finds out?" And she was raised very very
18:54
Catholic, like by nuns, more Catholic
18:58
than we can ever imagine. So, it was
19:00
something I struggled with and I wanted
19:02
to tell her before the adoption process
19:05
started. Um, but I couldn't because
19:07
legally I can't adopt as a gay person in
19:10
Ecuador. So, I was like, and I was
19:14
single at the time. I was in my 20s. I
19:16
was probably still a little bit confused
19:17
about myself as it was. Um, so when she
19:21
came, she didn't know. And I spoke with
19:23
my aunt who was a child
19:25
psychologist who was amazing. And I was
19:27
like, Anna, I what do I do? I don't, you
19:29
know, I don't know how this is going to
19:31
go. And she was like, "Look, just do
19:33
your best not to lie to her. Just you
19:36
don't need to say anything. You know,
19:38
you're not saying that you're dating
19:39
anybody or it's going to be kind of like
19:41
Santa Claus when she asks, tell her and
19:43
don't lie about it." So, I kind of had
19:45
to wait for that to happen when she got
19:47
over here. And, um, it it actually went
19:50
better than I ever could have expected.
19:53
Um, it turned out great. And now she's
19:56
best friends with Lena and we're a big
19:57
family and it works out really well. But
19:59
it was interesting.
20:02
Wow. Mhm. Wow. And how did you go about
20:07
the adoption process since you were
20:10
technically not allowed to adopt in
20:11
Ecuador? Did you kind of like just avoid
20:15
I just didn't they didn't ask. It was
20:17
like a don't ask don't tell kind of
20:18
thing. Right. Right. Yeah. They it
20:20
wasn't like I lied on the application.
20:22
It just never came up and so I wasn't
20:24
going to mention it. Was there ever any
20:26
thought in your mind that said should I
20:28
tell her parents?
20:31
No. No.
20:33
Okay. No. Yeah. That I wasn't too
20:36
concerned about that. I was more
20:37
concerned about telling her
20:39
and and so when you and your by the time
20:43
you met your wife, she was already cool.
20:46
This is Yeah. Yeah. She's like my
20:48
biggest advocate. She's like, "Why is
20:49
this something you would ever even
20:51
second guess? Like, who cares?" That's
20:54
amazing. When you when you met Nina and
20:57
you're like, "By the way, I have a
20:59
daughter." Yeah, that went really well.
21:02
Um Um was great about it. Was she? Yeah.
21:05
No, it worked out. It uh I'm sure that
21:08
like her family initially had some
21:10
reservations. I was a little bit older.
21:11
I had a teenage daughter. Like, right.
21:15
It's it's you know, realistic. like I
21:18
would have had reservations as well, but
21:19
once they met us, like they were
21:21
amazing. And Nah's parents are like
21:23
Maggali's other grandparents. They love
21:24
her and and it's great. It all, you
21:27
know, little by little all worked out.
21:29
Um, can you talk to me more about the
21:32
adoption process and what that would
21:34
look like today? Have things kind of
21:35
opened up more for a a gay person to
21:39
adopt in another country or even here in
21:42
the United States? Is it still
21:43
considered taboo? Um, I don't think in
21:46
the United States there are
21:47
restrictions. I honestly haven't looked
21:49
at this in a long time, so I don't know.
21:50
It's It changes with every country. Um,
21:53
so a lot of Latin America doesn't allow
21:56
it. I I really can't speak for most
21:58
countries. I don't know. I just know at
22:00
that process and I know because I was
22:01
looking up the regulations like I wasn't
22:03
about to mention it to the adoption
22:04
agency. Sure. Um, and it was just not
22:08
allowed at the time. I don't think
22:09
that's changed, but it's different for
22:13
every country. I wish I knew exactly
22:16
what it was today. Okay. And so if
22:19
somebody was considering adopting
22:22
internationally, what would be your
22:24
advice to them today?
22:26
Uh just be prepared for a long ride.
22:28
It's 100% worth it. Just, you know, I've
22:32
been through IVF and I've been through
22:33
the adoption process and they were both
22:36
really, really hard. Um you know, the
22:38
adoption process took 3 years and part
22:40
of that was a little complicated cuz
22:41
Mgalli did have another family. Real
22:43
realistically, I think it really should
22:45
take like a year, a year and a half. But
22:46
IVF also took us a year and was very a
22:49
very emotional process. Um, but just
22:53
keep at it. Like if if you're trying to
22:56
adopt, you're going to go through an
22:57
agency. They're going to introduce you
22:58
to children and you are going to have to
23:01
do a psychological assessment. You're
23:03
going to have to do, you know, basically
23:04
like an FBI background check. They come
23:06
to your house. They check out your
23:07
family. And it can feel a little bit
23:09
intrusive sometimes, but at the end of
23:12
the day, one of their goals is also to
23:14
make sure that these kids are going to
23:16
nice families um that are going to take
23:18
care of them and and they're trying to
23:19
avoid human traffic and those kinds of
23:21
things. So, it's also important for us
23:23
to appreciate that there is a process um
23:26
and that these kids are ending up in in
23:28
loving homes. So, take it day by day and
23:32
and in the end, it's it's 100%
23:34
worthwhile. I mean, Mgalli's been with
23:36
me now since she was 14, so almost 10
23:39
years, and I I wouldn't have it any
23:40
other way. Of course, she's a part of
23:43
you at this point, right? Um um so my
23:48
other question was, is there a way to
23:52
get involved in Mundo today or is that
23:54
no longer working? Yeah. Yeah. So I am
23:58
not as involved in the Mindo
24:00
organization just because my um my time
24:05
and efforts have been more focused
24:06
directly towards Maggali's family in
24:08
today's day and age and over the past
24:09
couple years. But there is a family
24:11
who's awesome who kind of oversees uh
24:14
the Mindo charity and organization and
24:15
they do medical missions and they do
24:18
youth missions and they take groups down
24:19
to this school in Mindo where they
24:21
really help this town um and help the
24:24
school and it's grown a lot. There are a
24:26
ton of people that are involved in it. I
24:28
mean, hundreds of people. So, they had a
24:30
medical mission a few weeks ago and they
24:32
go down and treat tons of patients and
24:34
they've even brought people over here
24:35
that need major surgeries before and
24:37
have sponsored them. So, they make they
24:39
make a huge difference. Um, is Magali
24:41
involved with them today? Yeah, she
24:44
actually went down this week. She's
24:46
recently gotten more involved with them
24:48
again. Um, but she is there this week
24:50
building a 3D printing lab for some of
24:52
the kids. So she went down with a group
24:54
from Lords and Lel actually um and one
24:58
of her old
24:59
teachers and they are building a lab. My
25:02
brother's an engineer and he actually
25:03
went with her this week so that the kids
25:05
over there can that are doing like
25:07
mechanics can start learning about 3D
25:09
printing. It's pretty cool. This is
25:11
absolutely amazing. What a gorgeous
25:14
beautiful story. Did you have a support
25:16
group or a community that you leaned on
25:19
during the process of other adopes? Not
25:23
really, just because my story was so
25:24
different from most. Like most of those
25:26
groups, you know, I think the agency did
25:29
send me a couple resources that I didn't
25:31
really follow too closely because I
25:33
already knew Mgalli. She was already
25:35
like my kid. It wasn't like I was uh
25:37
getting to know a new child like a lot
25:39
of these families were. So, it was
25:41
really my family that I leaned on for
25:42
the most part and my friends and really
25:45
the the Mindo group because they all
25:46
knew Mgalli. Right. Right. Mhm. I know
25:50
you have to pick up Mateo in 15 minutes
25:53
because I could keep asking you
25:55
questions all day. Don't worry. I'm sure
25:58
that this uh once we post this IG live
26:01
to our profile grid, people are going to
26:03
be asking questions. Would you be open
26:05
to answering them if that is the case?
26:07
100%. I'm I'm happy to share our
26:09
experience and if anybody ever has
26:11
questions about adoption, I'm I'm happy
26:13
to talk to them. It's it's really is a a
26:16
gift not only for the child but for for
26:18
a family. Where do you see Maggali in 10
26:20
years?
26:23
It's a really good question. Maggali is
26:25
going to be some badass biomed engineer
26:29
who is killing it because the girl is so
26:31
smart and such a hard worker and she's
26:34
really cute cuz she always says like
26:36
Lind like do you think I'm going to be
26:38
as successful as you? Like do you think
26:39
I'm going to do as well as you guys? I'm
26:41
like, Mali, you are already way more
26:43
successful than us. Like, there is zero
26:46
question about your success because you
26:48
are killing it. Maggali, somebody just
26:51
put Maggali for president in 10 years.
26:55
Nice. It's 100% true. Actually, uh, that
26:59
prompts me a question. Um, is she a US
27:01
citizen today? Yeah. Yeah. Uh, during
27:04
the adoption process, she was able to
27:06
get citizenship. It's a part of the
27:07
process. So, she's a dual citizen of
27:09
Ecuador and US. Correct. Wow.
27:12
Yeah, that's crazy. Very cool. Well,
27:15
Lindsay, I want to thank you and your
27:17
family for opening up to us. This week
27:19
has been I I can't tell you how many
27:21
people have called uh sent not called
27:24
us, sent us uh IG messages and direct
27:27
messages saying, "Thank you so much. You
27:28
guys are an
27:29
inspiration." Specific specifically, the
27:32
conversation about baptizing kids, I
27:35
think really struck a chord with
27:36
everybody. Um it really did. It really
27:39
did. A couple people reached out to
27:40
Nina, too. I'm I'm glad we were able to
27:42
share that experience a little bit or
27:44
our thoughts, right? You know, that's
27:46
why we're doing this and we're so
27:48
grateful that you guys came on board.
27:50
And I had already told Nina, I hope I
27:51
can hang out with you guys outside of
27:53
this setting in the future. You guys are
27:54
awesome. Oh, 100%. We would love that.
27:57
Thank you so much. Sounds great. Thank
27:58
you guys. Have a great weekend,
28:00
everyone. Keep that coffee strong and
28:03
your sanity intact. We are extinguishing
28:06
our little virtual um campfire here with
28:09
this tribal meeting and we're adjourning
28:11
and everybody have a great weekend. Bye
28:13
bye.
28:17
[Music]