Our story began like so many others, trying to have children and not being able to. We had always discussed adoption as an option, even if we had children naturally. Once the decision was made to adopt, we spent a week researching the adoption process, soup to nuts. We read of horror stories, as well as stories of great success. We gathered all the information and decided the benefits greatly outweighed the risks.
We decided to pay a visit to A Baby Step Adoption Agency for a consultation, and left feeling very comfortable with Barbara and her agency. It was after our first meeting that we submitted our parent profile, with great hopes of a speedy selection. Time was passing slowly, and we were waiting very anxiously for that special phone call. Every time the phone rang, we would both think to ourselves, could this be the one?
After about four months, on a Sunday afternoon, we received that call. I was in the office on the computer, and I could overhear my wife speaking. I knew instantly by her voice that something was up. I ran into the other room to listen to the conversation, hanging on every word. When she got off the phone, there was a smile from ear to ear. It was the mother of our eventual birth mother. She said they had reviewed our profile, and wanted us to adopt their baby. We received the call in May, and the baby was due at the end of July, beginning of August. Life’s pace suddenly began to move a little quicker.
We called the birth mother later that week and introduced ourselves, one of the most nerve-wracking conversations we’ve ever had. The conversation went about as well as it could. We set up a time and place to meet face to face. We drove to Philadelphia and had lunch with our birth mother and her mother. We sat and talked for two hours, topics ranging from how we planned to raise our child, to our backgrounds, life stories, and life, in general. Everything for us felt natural, it all seemed to flow.
After our meeting, we stayed in contact weekly via phone calls. We also drove down and accompanied our birth mother to her doctor’s appointments. We had a really great thing going, we were able to support her while at the doctor, and she appreciated that aspect. We appreciated being able to be a part of our soon-to-be daughter’s pregnancy. We were in the room for all the sonograms, and my wife was in the room for all the examinations to provide even more support, and get first hand information from the doctors.
It was the third and final sonogram appointment, and we drove down on a Friday afternoon. For whatever medical reasons, the doctors decided they were going to admit our birth mother on Sunday night, and induce labor. This was about two weeks early, but ready or not, she was coming. We drove home that night with great excitement. We spent Saturday getting everything ready, packing, gathering paperwork, and calling family.
Sunday came and we drove down and met our birth mother and her mother at the hospital. They admitted her and began to induce; things didn’t take, so we waited to try again the next morning. They tried again, and ended up rushing her in for an emergency C-section. Ten minutes later, our little daughter was rolled in, and the room was filled with hugs, tears, and smiles.
The next three days turned out to be the most special part of this whole experience for us. Because our birth mother had the C-section, she had to stay in the hospital for three days. Well, we stayed in her room with her, from 9 am, to 9 pm, each day. We talked, she watched us take care of the baby, and we really bonded during that time. We met all of her family as they came to visit, and the time with us set her at ease, because she had the opportunity to see just how much we loved our little daughter.
At the end of the three days, we walked out of the hospital together, and we actually drove her home. We are still in contact through email, and send pictures and updates every couple of months.
We started researching the process in January, and we had a baby girl in July. I understand that doesn’t happen for everyone, but for us it did. We couldn’t have had a more special experience than the one we did. We are truly blessed by our daughter.
