Our Adoption StoryHow it All Began...
How our Adoption Journey Began
"When we began our adoption journey, we had no idea that we were entering into one of the most emotionally charged times of our lives. We weren’t prepared for the many unknowns, but through it all we came to see that everything fell into place at exactly the right time."
We knew from the moment we were married that we wanted to grow our family and have a child that was both of ours. Elizabeth has two older children from a previous marriage, Paige and Mariah, who are now 12 and 13 years old. Unfortunately, we found out that we were not able to have biological children together. We immediately looked into other ways of growing our family and after lots of research we decided on adoption. We were at a point of giving up on the idea when we stumbled across Angel Adoption while on Facebook. Something clicked for us, we felt like we were finally stepping in the right direction.
Chosen By a Birthmother
We signed on with Angel Adoption in January and were pleasantly surprised when an expectant mother, due in October, choose us for an interview just four months into our contract. We happily agreed to speak with her and came to find out she lived in Florida, our absolute favorite place to vacation. Through speaking with her we found out she had two other children and was with the man she loved, but unable to financially care for another child. We continued to speak and get to know each other better and by all appearances things were moving along smoothly.
The Rollercoaster of Emotions
In May we received a call that our expectant mother had changed her mind and did not want to go through with the placement of her child. Although we were saddened to find out she had decided not to place her baby, we respected her decision and hoped only the best for their family. We expressed this to her and let her know we would continue to pray for them and wished them only the best. We had become close with her and truly wanted to ensure she was able to take the time she needed to make the best decision for their family as a whole. A few days later we got word that she changed her mind and was going to move forward with placement after all. While we were not 100% certain that she would not change her mind again, we had to trust the process. We also never doubted her intentions. She was honest and up front with us, which we greatly appreciated.
During this time, we did our best to really focus on all the things we could control. We spent as much time as possible with our older girls and took advantage of planning as many date nights as we could. We were well aware that having an infant would change our home life dynamic and wanted to make sure we soaked up as much time with each other as possible.
In July, we were in Florida on vacation and made plans to meet up with our birthmother to talk in person. We just happened to be there the day she had an ultrasound to find out the sex of the baby. We met for lunch after her doctor's appointment and that is when she told us she was having a beautiful baby girl. We were over the moon and shared many hugs and tears. From that moment on we kept in touch daily.
Meeting Our Baby
On Oct 6, I received a text from our birthmother at 3:05am saying, “Your baby is here!” with a picture of her attached. I woke David up screaming out in excitement, tears of joy running down my face. Our baby had arrived, WE WERE PARENTS!!! As we allowed all this information to sink in, we still couldn't help but feel anxious that something might come up that would keep us from bringing our baby girl home.
We hurried over to the hospital to meet our baby, our Magnolia. When we were led into the nursery, I immediately scooped her up and we locked eyes. David said Magnolia was looking into my eyes as if she knew who I was, that she knew I was her Mama. David then took her into his arms and in that moment I was overcome with the most intense feelings of joy and gratitude. Seeing him hold our child for the first time is a memory I will never forget. We didn’t want to put her down again. The 48 hours we had to wait before Magnolia's birthmother signed her rights over was one of the most emotionally overwhelming times in our lives. After they were signed, we were finally able to completely let our guard down and let the immense joy and reality of the situation sink in.
Life After Adoption
Magnolia’s birthmother is our angel. She is a loving and strong woman. We can’t even begin to understand what she went through during this process. She is the sweetest person and we just adore and love her.
Magnolia’s birthmother wanted an open adoption and we gladly accepted those terms. We text often, send pictures, and keep her updated on all the milestones. We always try to let her initiate the conversation, figuring out our boundaries as we go. We don’t think of her just as Magnolia’s birthmother, we think of her as Magnolia’s first mom. She is our forever family, and the angel that blessed us with our precious baby.
Although the adoption process is not easy, we would absolutely love to adopt again in the future. Everything we went through, the ups and downs, were 100% worth it. We are so honored to share our story with other adoptive parents. If there is anything we could pass on to others, it is this: Immerse yourself in the process, accept the unknowns and the right birthmother will find you.