- Well, 63, that's how many families

Karen Springs set out to visit

in a road trip across America.

And they weren't just any families.

They were families whohad adopted children.

Take a look.

(wind whooshing)(gentle music)

- [Reporter] Karen Springs has worked

with CBNs Orphan's Promise,for nearly 15 years

in the Ukraine.

After hosting numerous families,

and helping them throughthe adoption process,

Karen has set out on aroad trip in the U.S.,

to explore what happens after parents

bring their adopted childrenhome, and real life begins.

- Through this journey,my hope is to give voice

to both the pain and the joythat is found in adoption.

- [Reporter] In her book,

"Adoption Through the Rearview Mirror,"

Karen shares storiesof heartache and hope,

helping better preparefamilies for the road ahead.

- Please welcome to "The700 Club," Karen Springs,

author of "Adoption Throughthe Rearview Mirror."

Karen, it's so great tohave you with us today.

- Thanks, Terry.

- You grew up in afamily that had adopted,

what was that like for you?

- Oh, so my family didn't adopt,

but I had relatives that had adopted.

And when I moved to Ukraine,

I got to walk through theiradoption process with them.

- So you've had so much experience,

we talked about it with Orphan's Promise,

and processing familiesin and out of Ukraine,

as they went to get their children.

What was that experience like for you?

- Well, I think partof my adoption journey,

or experiencing it, was probably similar

to your experience inthat we can all walk in

with a bit of rose colored glasses,

and that we just think the answer

is we need to place children in families.

And when I first moved to Ukraine in 2004,

and visited an orphanagefor the first time,

that was my first conviction,

is just how do we get thesekids out of orphanages,

and into families.

But as the years went by,I quickly became aware

that it wasn't so simple as that,

as a kid getting healedjust by being in a family.

And that was part of the reason why

I wanted to take this journey,is I was becoming more aware

of the challenges thatfamilies were facing.

And so I wanted to take this journey,

interview the families,

and find out what they wish they'd known,

and what they'd learnedthrough the adoption process.

- So as you took this trip across country,

what did you discover about adoption,

in the rear view mirror?

- Yes (laughing) well,you know, it's funny,

there's a Soren Kierkegaard quote,

that says, "Life can onlybe understood backwards,

but it must be lived forwards."

And I didn't know about that quote

before I began on my journey.

But I will say that my journey

was the essence of that understanding,

is that yes, we walk forward,

but we learn from ourrear view perspective.

And, you know, familieshad, by the time I met them,

they'd removed their rose colored glasses.

They had realized that adoptionwasn't a walk in the park,

that it was full of challenges.

Also that God was withthem in those challenges.

And so, really I just, it was fun,

and such a unique experience to sit down

and let them share the mostvulnerable parts of their story,

and also share the ways

that God was working throughthose parts of their stories.

So I think that everyonelearned, you know,

hindsight is 20/20, butthere's a reason why also

that God doesn't show useverything, before we walk forward.

- Absolutely, and yet you want people,

through your book, to see something

that maybe they hadn't seen before.

You talked about the rose colored glasses,

You know, I think a lot of times we think

love will be enough,belonging will be enough,

but in fact, the journey is more complex.

Talk about the complexityof that a little bit.

- Yeah, I think thatwith anything, you know,

who go in with one perspective,

and then I think people go into adoption

knowing that it will be hard.

But there was thissentiment of many families,

is that they didn't knowwhich version of hard

that it would be, untilthey were in themselves.

And I think, you know,it's understanding that,

understanding that kids who'vegrown up in institutions,

or in any difficult circumstances,

have experienced trauma to some extent,

and it's learning about the effects

that that has on the brain,and how to help children.

And I think that parents thatI saw be the most successful

were the ones that were learning

to walk through thatjourney with their kids,

and recognizing that theydidn't have all the answers,

and so that they needed tofind the right resources

to become equipped, tohelp their children.

- Did you find, you havesuch experience with people,

in the beginning stage of their adoption,

were there things, as youprocessed all of this,

that surprised you?

- You know, I think that some,

maybe one of the biggest surprises

was some of the griefthat families experienced.

I think, you know, wecan often sell adoption

as this bright and happy thing,

and neglect to share the hard side.

And I think one of those harder sides

is the grief that can happen.

And that can be for the child,that can be for the parents.

And I think parents maybe knew

that their child would experience grief,

but they didn't experiencetheir own grief,

of just the loss of how their family was

before they adopted, orall the changes that came.

And that was an aspect

that they really justhadn't prepared for yet.

- Yeah, and yet, I know

that you are a hugeproponent for adoption,

so you haven't changed yourmind about that, have you?

- No, I don't think thatI've changed my mind.

And I know that, you know, Terry,

you and I have talked about it before,

that not everyone is called to adopt.

And I think it's recognizing that,

that we're all called to do something,

but that doesn't mean that it'sthe actual call of adoption

for every single family.

And so I think I just believe

that families need to walkin with their eyes wide open,

prepared, ready to do whatever it takes

to get their child help.

But yes, it's not, it'sdefinitely not for everybody.

And it's not for the faint of heart.

- It's not, (laughing) I wanna say,

if you are considering adoption,

Karen's book is wonderful.

It's called "AdoptionThrough the Rearview Mirror."

It's available where books are sold.

And you'll hear from many families

who have experienced this,

and been honest enoughto share their stories.

- Your Orphan's Promisehas done a great deal,

I mean, to help children.

But what she says is right,

it's not easy to bring somebody-

- No it's not.- To another family.

You feel that trauma.