“Our open adoption has allowed us to raise our children not as extensions of ourselves but with the recognition that our daughters were never ours to begin with. They are a gift from two sets of birth parents who choose us to love, nurture, and guide our daughters through life.”

Behind every no is a what if. What if you said yes instead of no? What if you took the leap instead of playing it safe? What if you went for the life you wanted instead of accepting the one you have?

One Yes at a Time is one family’s origin story of taking risks together. By saying yes to two open adoptions, Susan Strong and her husband stepped into the unknown of adoptive parenting with eagerness but also absolutely blind to what came next. Over time, they learned to let go of control and trust the process, eventually building a beautiful life for themselves and their children.

This book is not just a memoir of one family’s unusual beginning. It is the story of family itself and a reminder that love is something we have to practice each and every day. It is an invitation to see the world a little more unconventionally, to step out into that new and daring adventure that requires trust. Saying yes gets easier with time, even when it means doing the hard thing.

When we choose to see possibility in difficulty, opportunity emerges in new and surprising ways. Every challenge met on the path of life is another opportunity to believe the best is yet to come. And the only way we get there is with one yes at a time.