{"id":101195,"date":"2023-05-10T08:21:50","date_gmt":"2023-05-09T22:21:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wesleymission.org.au\/?post_type=news-and-publication&p=101195"},"modified":"2023-05-10T08:50:58","modified_gmt":"2023-05-09T22:50:58","slug":"sarahs-story-bringing-family-together-no-matter-the-distance","status":"publish","type":"news-and-publication","link":"https:\/\/www.wesleymission.org.au\/news-and-publications\/sarahs-story-bringing-family-together-no-matter-the-distance\/","title":{"rendered":"Sarah\u2019s story: Bringing family together, no matter the distance"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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\u201cA year ago, you couldn’t have pictured the three of us sitting at our kitchen table. And here we are,\u201d says Caitlin*.<\/p>

Finally, this family of three are together. Caitlin and Nolan* are Sarah\u2019s* aunt and uncle. But they\u2019re also Sarah\u2019s kinship carers. And they almost can\u2019t believe Sarah\u2019s finally home with them in Ireland. Because it\u2019s been a long journey to get to this point.<\/p>

Born in Sydney, Australia in February 2021, Sarah was initially placed in the care of her assumed grandmother, Sophie*. Sarah\u2019s birth mother, Shannon*, sadly has faced many challenges over the years. So, when Sarah was born, legally, Shannon couldn\u2019t take her home.<\/p>

The long journey for Nolan and Caitlin to become kinship carers began when Nolan lost contact with his sister, Shannon in 2019, who\u2019d been living in Australia for the last 10 years on a visa. Concerned for her wellbeing and safety, Noland and Caitlin filed a missing person\u2019s report with the police.<\/p>

\u201cWe were hoping to get her found and get her deported and get her home, so we could help her,\u201d says Caitlin.<\/p>

But because they lived across the other side of the world, Nolan and Caitlin\u2019s search eventually hit a dead end. It wasn\u2019t until mid-2020, when Shannon\u2019s ex-partner reached out, that Nolan and Caitlin discovered Shannon was pregnant.<\/p>

After Sarah was born, Nolan and Caitlin were excited to receive photos of baby Sarah from Shannon. They felt hopeful for Shannon and Sarah to have a bright future together. But that quickly changed. By May 2021 they lost contact with Shannon completely. And when they found out Sarah never left the hospital with Shannon, Nolan and Caitlin contacted the NSW Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) and discovered Sarah was living with Sophie.<\/p>

This is where Wesley Dalmar, Wesley Mission\u2019s foster care program stepped in. In June 2021, DCJ transferred over the case and for the first time, Nolan and Caitlin were asked whether they wanted to become Sarah\u2019s kinship carers. That\u2019s when Nolan and Caitlin brought forward their doubts about the father\u2019s paternity.<\/p>

Bringing Sarah home<\/h2>

Suddenly they were in a race against time. The Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia was only a couple of days away from making a final ruling on Sarah\u2019s custody in Sophie\u2019s favour. So, Nolan and Caitlin decided to go for it.<\/p>

\u201cWe just didn’t want her growing up thinking that no one cared about her from her family,\u201d says Nolan. \u201cWe just wanted her to know that we were willing to fight and do whatever we could to get her home.\u201d<\/p>

And the court agreed. \u201cBecause we were unable to get DNA testing confirmed, the magistrate was therefore happy with the idea of endorsing the assessment of Nolan and Caitlin,\u201d Katie explains.<\/p>

While Nolan and Caitlin ticked all the boxes to become Sarah\u2019s kinship carers, for Katie, it was their devotion to Sarah that stood out.<\/p>

\u201cJust the level of devotion that they had towards Sarah. Nolan and Caitlin were on the other side of the world, and they were getting up at four or five AM to speak to me every week,\u201d explains Katie.<\/p>

\u201cThey knew everything about Sarah. They wanted to know exactly what her routine was, and they desperately wanted pictures. They had her best interests at heart. We had so many hours of discussion where they just kept saying over and over, \u2018We’re not doing this for us. We’re doing this for her\u2019.\u201d<\/p>

While Caitlin and Nolan waited for the court to rule on Sarah\u2019s case, they made several life-changing decisions to prepare for Sarah\u2019s arrival, including selling and buying a new home, upgrading their car and Caitlin left her job to manage the transition.<\/p>

\u201cWe thought, we\u2019re just going to have to act as if she’s coming because we don’t have time to do it all when we get the court order,\u201d Caitlin explains.<\/p>

A process that normally takes years, took six months. The judge too admired Nolan and Caitlin\u2019s dedication and ruled in their favour. \u201cThis is unheard of in a case like this,\u201d says Katie.<\/p>

While a victory for Nolan and Caitlin, they almost couldn\u2019t believe it to be true because they\u2019d faced so many hurdles. And while they met more hurdles along their journey to Australia, in February 2022, Nolan and Caitlin finally arrived in Sydney to meet Sarah for the first time. And it was joy at first sight for this family.<\/p>

\u201cWe just kind of connected straight away and she was very comfortable with us,\u201d says Nolan.<\/p>

But it was also emotional. Along with meeting Sarah, it was Nolan and Caitlin\u2019s first-time seeing Shannon after so many years.<\/p>

\u201cFor the four of us to be in the same room together, it was just unbelievable. After such a long process,\u201d says Caitlin.<\/p>

While a difficult transition for Sophie, Nolan and Caitlin are thankful for how well Sophie prepared Sarah for the change.<\/p>

\u201cSophie could not have been nicer,\u201d says Caitlin. \u201cWe could see the genuine love that she had for Sarah. We could see what a happy child Sarah was. That was down to a year that she had dedicated her life to the child. You could see she was so well looked after and so loved.\u201d<\/p>

New beginnings<\/h2>

Nolan and Caitlin were amazed at how quickly Sarah settled into her new home in Ireland. And now this bubbly young girl has changed their lives for the better. Sarah has even started calling her kinship carers, Mummy Caitlin and Daddy Nolan.<\/p>

\u201cShe just brings so much joy to our home,\u201d Caitlin says as tears well up in her eyes. \u201cAnd even with everyone she meets. She\u2019s touched the lives of so many people.\u201d<\/p>

Nolan and Caitlin agree that they\u2019ll be ever grateful for Wesley Dalmar and Katie\u2019s support.<\/p>

\u201cKatie has changed our lives,\u201d says Caitlin. \u201cThis has been the toughest experience of our lives and the most rewarding. And every step of the way, you were with us. And that means the world to us.\u201d<\/p>

Along with helping to bring Sarah home, Katie also supported with bringing Shannon back to Ireland, so Sarah can have a relationship with her birth mother.<\/p>

\u201cWhen Katie came into our lives, we’d know where Shannon was every week, if not every day. We got updates all the time. We knew that someone was looking out for her. She always went above and beyond,\u201d says Caitlin.<\/p>

\u201cAnd now Sarah\u2019s so excited to see Shannon, whenever she sees her.\u201d<\/p>

Katie too is thankful to have been part of this family\u2019s journey. \u201cIt was honestly such a privilege to work with Nolan, Caitlin and Shannon. If every foster carer or family member could be like them, I think we’d live in a very different world.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Become a foster carer with Wesley Dalmar<\/h2>

Wesley Dalmar urgently needs more foster carers in New South Wales. You can help by providing a loving and stable home to a child or young person at risk. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u201cA year ago, you couldn’t have pictured the three of us sitting at our kitchen table. And here we are,\u201d …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":101198,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","advanced-sidebar-menu\/link-title":"","advanced-sidebar-menu\/exclude-page":false},"ceo-newsletter":[],"move-to-top-of-sidebar":[],"custom-layouts":[704],"exclude-from-nav":[632],"news-and-publications-tags":[629],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2024-05-06 19:09:33","action":"change-status","newStatus":"private","terms":[],"taxonomy":"custom-layouts"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wesleymission.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-and-publication\/101195"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wesleymission.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-and-publication"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wesleymission.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news-and-publication"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.wesleymission.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-and-publication\/101195\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wesleymission.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wesleymission.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"ceo-newsletter","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wesleymission.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ceo-newsletter?post=101195"},{"taxonomy":"move-to-top-of-sidebar","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wesleymission.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/move-to-top-of-sidebar?post=101195"},{"taxonomy":"custom-layouts","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wesleymission.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/custom-layouts?post=101195"},{"taxonomy":"exclude-from-nav","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wesleymission.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/exclude-from-nav?post=101195"},{"taxonomy":"news-and-publications-tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wesleymission.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-and-publications-tags?post=101195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}