Jonathon & Janice

We are Jon and Janice Meyer and we have twin girls who are 6. We started our adoption journey July 2017 by attending an information session held by FSGV. Right away we felt the Japan program was right for us. We completed our home study and applied to the program in February 2018. We were shocked and overjoyed to receive a proposal for a beautiful little boy April 26. We travelled out to Japan in May and our new son was placed in our arms the day after we arrived. We named him Malakai meaning gift from God. We took our daughters with us to Japan as we wanted them to be a part of this journey and for the great bonding time as a family. We instantly fell in love with Malakai. He has a sweet nature and the cutest chubby cheeks.

Shortly after arriving in Japan and meeting our new son we received news of issues with the Canadian government in issuing permanent resident visas for children being adopted from Japan. This caused a lot of stress and uncertainty. We were very blessed to be in Japan with 4 other families. We were able to work together to face these challenges. After failed attempts of contacting MP’s and the Minister of Immigration’s office we turned to the media. After a week of media coverage and many letters/emails sent by family, friends and people sympathetic to our cause, we were finally granted a visa to bring our little Malakai home. We spent a total of 7 and a half weeks in Tokyo when originally we would have only stayed 3-4 weeks. As Tokyo is one of the most expensive cities in the world, the extended stay added additional costs to the adoption. We are so grateful to ABBA for the support to help with these unforeseen expenses.