Our Adoption StoryRobyn & Joel

When One Door Closes...

After many unsuccessful attempts at having biological children, we decided to close that door and start exploring adoption. We had always been open to the idea of adoption. The only real decision we had to make was whether we wanted to pursue an international or domestic adoption. We met with a few people who had adopted internationally and domestically. Some friends and family shared their adoption journey with us prior to us starting ours. After weighing out the pros and cons, we decided to adopt domestically.

One of our family members used Angel Adoption’s services, and they had a great experience, so we decided to put our faith in Angel by starting our adoption journey with them. Our family was extremely supportive during the time we were trying to conceive. When we told them we were pursuing adoption, they were thrilled for us and just as supportive during this process of many unknowns.

All the Feels

From starting our journey to meeting the expectant mother for the first time, we had all the feels in the world. Some days we were sitting in fear, afraid of all the unknowns. The unknowns are what really put stress on our weeks as time passed by. Other days we felt hopeful and supported.

Unfortunately, we did not get the opportunity to meet the expectant mother before delivery. With that being said, you can only imagine the nerves eating us alive when we were on the way to the hospital. We developed a relationship with the expectant mother over the course of seven months. We felt like we knew her well. However, seven months was not enough time to even fathom the struggle she was enduring and how difficult of a decision this journey must have been for her.

The expectant mother’s strength and courage were so admirable. If there was anything we could do to make her journey feel worthwhile, it was to support her in any way we possibly could. For us, that meant creating a safe space for her where she could lean on us when she needed someone to talk to. It also meant checking in on her to see how she was doing. It was important for us to ensure that she felt seen and heard.

Quite the Adventure

We traveled by car to get to the expectant mother. It was Joel’s idea to start our drive when we did so we could make it to the hospital on time. It was a 15-hour drive that felt like quite the adventure. We drove halfway and booked a hotel overnight. The expectant mother called us to let us know she was not getting admitted since she was not dilated enough. We decided to still continue our drive to her. Luckily, we were only two hours away when our son, Morrison, was born. Meeting Morrison for the first time was surreal and made the drive worthwhile.

Meant to Be

The biggest challenge throughout our journey was the unknowns of the process. There were times during our journey when we did not know whether it was going to work out with the expectant mother. Thankfully, she continued coming back and checking in during questionable moments. To be so invested in something that is completely out of your control is extremely difficult emotionally.

However, knowing we had one another for support helped us climb over the tough hurdles. If there was anything we would have done differently, we both can confidently say we put our all into this journey. Trusting the process is all we could have really done. It was definitely a difficult time, but we are beyond grateful to have experienced this journey and come out as a family at the end of it.