Our Adoption StoryKerri & Jason

How did you decide to adopt a baby?

We always knew we wanted to adopt. We had hoped to have a biological child first, but our struggle with infertility made adoption our first priority.

Why did you choose to work with Angel Adoption?

We had heard good things about Angel and we really enjoyed our initial meeting.

What were you most excited about?

We were most excited about getting the call that we were chosen and the chance to be parents.

What were you most nervous about?

We were nervous about not getting picked or having a failed adoption.

What was it like meeting the expectant mother for the first time?

We met her at the hospital. It was surreal. She was better than we could have imagined. So genuine, selfless, and generous. She told everyone in the hospital that we were the parents.

Did you choose an open or closed adoption? How did you make that decision?

Honestly, at first open adoption scared us. It wasn’t until we attended an adoptive parent panel required for our home study that we changed our mind. We heard stories from the adoptive parents on their relationships with birthmothers and how it really helped their children to stay in touch. We decided then to be more open to an open adoption.

Describe receiving the call that your babies were being born and traveling to meet them.

We were connected with our expectant mother a week before the actual call. We had been in communication with her via text for a week and knew the time was close. We encouraged her to go to the ER because she hadn't received any prenatal care. She texted us and said they were preparing for a C-section and we could come now. We had our bags packed just in case and quickly threw everything in the car. We drove straight through to Dallas (about 15 hours!) and got the text message from her a few hours later that the babies were born. She asked if we wanted to know the genders and see pictures. Of course we did! We cried and said prayers of thanks and then called our parents. We were excited, thankful, and nervous all at the same time.

Describe the experience of finally meeting your babies.

When we got to the hospital, the babies were in the hospital room with their birthmother. She was holding our daughter and handed her to me. The representative from the agency in Texas was holding our son and handed him to Jason. It was an unbelievable moment. The hospital staff gave us a room a few rooms down from the birthmother and we stayed there with the babies for 2 ½ days. We got to spend a lot of quality time with her. I made sure to write everything down in a journal so I could remember to tell the babies everything I knew about her and that time.

What is your relationship like with the birthmother?

At first we kept in touch via text every few weeks or so. We wanted to have more communication and hopefully meet up with her again, but we respected her wishes. She just wanted us to send pictures via text every so often. She had been responding back up until June after we sent pictures from the baptism. We just sent six-month pictures and have not heard back either. We will keep sending the pictures and hope to hear from her. We understand that this is a difficult experience for her.

What were the biggest challenges of the adoption process?

The wait, the cost, and all the red tape.

Adopting a baby can be a lengthy process - how did you get through the wait?

Our faith in God. We can’t imagine how we would have made it through without it.

Would you adopt again? Why or why not?

We always thought we would, but then again, we never imagined we would be parents of twins! We will definitely revisit it once the babies are a bit older.

What advice do you have to share with other adoptive parents?

Keep the faith. All the other failed connections and opportunities seemed so devastating at the time, but in the end we got the best situation ever.