CENTRAL POINT, Ore. -- The Thayer's have made the commitment to children in need, but it didn't come without some soul searching and second thoughts.
 
"I was adopted when I was an 11-year-old child. I had a rough, rocky childhood, and when I turned 11 I had the chance to go to Washington with a family that had a 15-year-old son, so I became their second child and was just raised by a wonderful loving family," says Adoptive Parent Susan Thayer.
 
When Susan Thayer and her husband Don decided to became parents, they had a plan.
 
"And so when I became an adult it was always my desire to kind of pay it forward and adopt again," says Susan Thayer.
 
The couple had two biological children, and then they started the adoption process. "And we decided to do it through the state system because we know those kids really needed a second chance," says Susan.
 
Don Thayer had his doubts.
 
"And there was moments where, I have to be honest...I wanted to back out. There was moments when I was like, 'this is just really strange'," says Don. "And there are moments where you're almost...like having an out-of-body experience as you're watching this whole process go through. But I can guarantee two things. One, that the kids that you either become foster parents for, or that you adopt, will benefit immensely from your willingness to risk. And two, it will absolutely be worth every bit of the risk that you take."
 
What Don says he didn't expect was the emotional impact of adoption.
 
"And the first time I held him, it was like he was my own flesh and blood. And that was something that I was uncertain about, is would that bond be the same? And it's very very much, it's very much different, but very much the same," says Don.
 
Adopting from the state includes risks; the child's uncertain legal status, drug exposure, or children that have been emotionally or physically abused.
 
"You have to see a long term investment in a child, and giving that child a chance when they're in junior high or high school. Or as an adult, the chance to walk that child down the aisle if it's a daughter or see that son go into the military and serve his country. I think as an adoptive parent you have to see long term and not just necessarily short term," says Susan.
 
"But I would encourage people not to run away scared because if somebody wouldn't have risked for my wife, where would she be? And if somebody wouldn't have risked for Samantha and Isaac, where would they be?" says Don.