Adoption didn’t make their family perfect; it made their love bigger and big enough to hold the complex parts, too. Cheryl believes families are built as much by stories as by paperwork. She learned about adoption by listening to others, and now she shares her own path so more children can find a safe, loving home. Cheryl grew up in the UK with Mauritian parents, trained in NLP, and works in strategic sales. In simple terms, NLP helps people notice how they think and act so they can repeat what works. Cheryl’s mission is to help people lead with love and consistency.
Her first thought about adoption came when she was nine, watching Live Aid and seeing children affected by famine. She quietly promised herself that one day she would adopt. Years later, tired of gray winters, she pictured a warmer life and, in 2015, moved to Dubai. On arrival, she wrote three goals in a notebook: buy another property, qualify as an NLP Trainer, and adopt a child. Putting them on paper made them real.
Travel widened her world, and India’s spirit drew her in. She completed NLP Trainer training there. She also volunteered at a rural school and orphanage without running water or electricity. It was rough, with bats, blackouts, and heat, but the children’s laughter kept her going. That experience clarified what she wanted most: to be a mother. Cheryl began researching how to adopt as a single woman in Dubai and encountered obstacle after obstacle, but she held her line. Then love found her. In 2018, she met Simonn, a Canadian, who brought up adoption on their first date. They agreed that parenthood was about love, not DNA, and later married on a rain-soaked beach in the Seychelles.
In early 2020, just as the pandemic began, they started the adoption process: psychological assessments, training on trauma and transracial adoption, and a home study that asked for every detail of their lives, backed by legal documents. It was thorough and exhausting. With guidance from a friend in Dubai, they chose Sierra Leone.
They were matched with Alpha, a two-and-a-half-year-old boy who had lived in an orphanage since birth. The law required six months of fostering, but COVID kept them out of the country. They clung to photos and videos while racing to secure one last document from Simon. When flights reopened, they masked up and flew to Canada to get it.
Soon after, a virtual court hearing made them parents to a child they had not yet held but already loved. Traveling to meet Alpha took 24 hours, three flights, and a boat. On September 28, 2020, Cheryl entered the orphanage courtyard and recognized him at once. He walked over, kissed her cheek, and stayed close. He was smaller than she imagined and completely perfect. They couldn’t stay long because of the pandemic but promised to return. Back in Dubai, Cheryl worked with HR to create adoption leave that matched maternity leave, arguing that bonding time is essential for children who join families through adoption.
A few months later, they learned a woman they knew from the orphanage had given birth to a girls. The mother decided to relinquish her baby. Cheryl and Simon said yes, became foster parents in March 2021, and named her Aliyah. Soon after Simon arrived in Sierra Leone, Aliyah became critically ill, and the doctors were bleak.
Cheryl put Alpha to bed in Dubai and called everyone she knew until a pediatric specialist agreed to help. She flew out with Alpha, spent her ICU visits singing “ This Little Light of Mine,” and watched Aliyah slowly regain strength. A week after Cheryl arrived, Aliyah was discharged, and Alpha finally met his sister. The family then lived apart for months: Cheryl worked in Dubai with Alpha, and Simon worked in Sierra Leone with Aliyah, finishing the process. They used that time to build relationships with their children’s birth country friends, food, church, and, importantly, Aliyah’s first family.
When Aliyah’s passport arrived, new flight restrictions forced a zigzag route via Kenya. Cheryl surprised them in Nairobi, and the reunion—Alpha hugging his dad and kissing his sister—was a pure joy. Back in Dubai, their home was loud with giggles and music. They celebrate their Sierra Leonean, Canadian, and Mauritian roots in their food, clothes, and playlists, and Cheryl has learned how to care for afro hair. They keep their children connected to their heritage and community, especially other families who adopted from Sierra Leone, because transracial adoption requires intention and humility.
Cheryl was honest about how adoption begins with loss. A child’s need for a new family means something has been broken, and healing takes time. She and Simon were committed to walking that path with their children and sharing their story so the next family felt less alone.
