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PHOTOS: Adoption family photo event chance to make poignant memories

First family photo carries a lot of meaning for new adoptive families

A family photo means something, and to families who have recently adopted a child it can mean even more.

Thanks to the Adoptive Families Association of BC, some families in the Campbell River area are getting a chance to get that meaningful step taken care of. On Sunday (Nov. 8), the local chapter of the association organized a free photo shoot for families with adopted kids at the Oyster Bay Shoreline Park. Families signed up for the event beforehand, and came down to the park to get a special professional photo taken that they can hang on the wall as a symbol of their family.

“It’s the first time you can officially say you’re a family, and just before Christmas I think for a lot of people it’s the first time sending out a Christmas Card that involves a new face,” said photographer Ashley Kendrick.

“The BC Adopts people usually do lots of events in November, but this year because of COVID they can’t,” she added. “They were thinking outside the box and decided to do family photos. Then it’s an event without the socializing.”

Campbell River parents Greg and Lisa Lee brought their son down to the park to get that first photo taken. Their son — they requested he not be identified — kept asking Greg and Lisa for a family photo, and they finally had the chance.

“I had posted that I was looking for a photographer on my Facebook, and then the adoption association contacted me and said that we should come down here,” said Lisa. “It’s awesome.”

“We went from double income with no kids to having kids,” she added. “I’m on parental leave, so that’s been a pretty dramatic swing in lifestyle. It’s been awesome, it’s what we’ve wanted for a long time.”

Other families who took part in the photo shoot were not necessarily new to the adoption community, but were a part of that community all the same.

“Not every family today will be a new adoption, some could be years in,” Kendrick explained.”Once you adopt, you’re part of that circle.”

RELATED: Struggling B.C. adoption agency elects new board that intends to keep it open



Marc Kitteringham

About the Author: Marc Kitteringham

I joined Campbell River Mirror in early 2020, writing about the environment, housing, local government and more.
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