Adam and Jennifer
In November 2005, we were blessed with a beautiful daughter, Julia Rose, through adoption. Prior to this wonderful occasion, we had many disappointments with infertility and a miscarriage. Therefore, we decided to pursue adoption as a means for growing our family. From the second we decided to adopt, we were so excited. We were very anxious to experience this new journey together, and we were confident that there was a child that was meant to be ours.
We found out about AAI through a friend of the family and made our first phone call. The staff of AAI was very helpful and friendly. This made us feel very comfortable with the agency. We attended our first informational meeting in June 2005. After this meeting, we decided to apply for domestic adoption mainly because we had the desire to have a newborn baby. It was at this point of the process that we decided to make the big announcement to family and friends! Everyone was so excited for us and happy about our decision to adopt.
Throughout the initial adoption process, we learned about networking with family and friends to attempt to locate a birth mother on our own. We decided to do this by telling our family and friends to spread the word that we were planning to adopt. In September 2005, we were linked with an out-of-state birth mother through networking. Due to some unfortunate circumstances, the adoption fell through in the beginning of November 2005. We were so heartbroken. AAI was there for us by being supportive and encouraging us to keep positive. Our profile was put into the system at that time and was ready to be shown to other birth parents.
On November 21, 2005, we received a call from our caseworker with some great news! We had been chosen by a birth mother! What made the situation even more exciting was that she was in labor as we spoke! We cannot describe in words the emotion that we felt at the time. Excitement cannot even begin to describe what we were feeling. In addition to being excited, we were so nervous to meet the birth mother and to see the baby for the first time! We went to the hospital that evening and met our daughter’s birth mother and birth father. It was a wonderful experience. We really enjoyed getting to know them. We could tell that they really loved and cared for Julia so much.
Seeing Julia for the first time was so amazing. From the second that we saw her, it felt like she had been meant to be our daughter. She was so precious and so beautiful. We felt that our prayers had finally been answered. Julia was born on a Monday and we would be bringing her home from the hospital on Wednesday (the day before Thanksgiving)!
After Julia’s birth, we spent the next couple of days at the hospital with Julia and her birth mother. We enjoyed spending so much time with them. The day that we brought Julia home from the hospital was very emotional. We were excited to bring her home with us, but at the same time, our hearts were breaking for Julia’s birth mother. We had decided to have some openness in the adoption and believed that this would really help Julia’s birth mother through this difficult time.
In our adoption agreement, we had agreed to visitation the first and second year of our daughter’s life. Since Julia’s birth, we have seen her birth mom multiple times and it has been great. We love being able to show off our little princess and talk about all of the new things she is doing! Plus, we love being able to see Julia’s birth mom move on with her life and achieve all of her goals. It has also been neat to see similarities between Julia and her birth mother.
Julia is our first child and we feel so blessed every time we look at her. We are so thankful for her every day. We feel, without a doubt, that she was meant to be our child and that we were meant to be her parents. She is our pride and joy. Not a day goes by that we are not extremely grateful for her birth mother and the sacrifice that she made for her child. Without her, we would not have our beautiful little girl.
We had prayed for a family for so long and had been so frustrated that our prayer was not being answered. We had struggled as a couple with one disappointment after another and now, looking back, we know that God had a perfect plan for us. We do not look back on our family planning journey with any bit of anger or hurt. Without going through what we went through, we would not have Julia and we cannot imagine our lives without her! We have so much love to offer another child and we are eagerly looking forward to growing our family from a “family of three” to a “family of four” through adoption with AAI!
