50 Most Inspiring Adoption Stories with Beauty Revived: Part 22

50 Most Inspiring Adoption Stories with Beauty Revived: Part 22

Beauty Revived has joined with Adoption.com to bring you the 50 Most Inspiring Adoption Stories. We have found 50 amazing photographers with big hearts to donate a session to tell the story of an inspiring adoption story in their community. This is Beauty Revived: Part 22.

Want to learn more about Beauty Revived and see the rest of the pictures? Check it out here and on Instagram.

Photography by Katie Myrick Photography Website

Our journey started back in 2003. We were married in late 2002 and the next year, we began trying to have a child. After a year of trying without success, we started talking to specialists. My wife, Hope, was in tremendous pain from endometriosis, and the specialists started trying to figure out if it could be corrected. After the first surgery for Hope in 2005 that would hopefully help, the pain soon returned worse than before. That brought more specialists, and ultimately they determined that there was nothing that could be done. In late 2007, the decision was made to have a full hysterectomy. We spent the next few years dealing with our grief—and enjoying Hope being pain-free.

We casually talked about adoption, all the while knowing when the time was right we would really start to discuss it. In late 2010, we began discussions of when the time may be right and how to start the process. In October 2011, we decided to tell our family we were going to adopt. Everyone was thrilled to know we were taking this step and we received nothing but support from each of them. In early 2012, we went to our adoption agency’s adoption workshop. It was at this workshop that we learned the agency’s rules, procedures, expectations, and more. For the first time, we really felt like this was all coming together. We were told that since they were a small agency, we could stay on the waitlist for 12-18 months. We got our home study completed in April 2012, and we went live on the waitlist. Then in late July 2012, we got the call that a prospective birth mother wanted to meet with us. Two days later, we were meeting with her and getting to know each other. Within 15 minutes of leaving the meeting, her social worker called to tell us that she was picking us! We were more excited than we ever could have imagined . . . but then scared at the same time! This was happening, and we had about 45 days until she was due. For the next month, we started preparing our house, our family, and our minds for what was coming.

On Monday, September 10, 2012, we made our way to the town where our daughter’s birth mother was laboring. Shortly before 7 a.m. on September 11, 2012, we got the call: Our sweet little Alyssa had been born. We were told to come to the hospital in about an hour or so, and we would be able to see her. We tried to eat breakfast, but of course, we were too excited to eat much. Finally, at the hospital, we got to go in the room and Alyssa’s birth mother handed our daughter to Hope. For the first time, we got the chance to hold our little miracle. I got to give Alyssa her first bottle, Hope got to help with the first bath, and we were fortunate to stay in a suite with her, right next to her birth mother, which gave us the chance to interact with her and talk to her more.

The next day, we were headed home, finally a family! From there, it has been the best 2.5 years of our life. She has grown into a beautiful, intelligent little girl with a personality that shines brighter than the sun. I’ve never known love the way that I love her, and I can’t believe how far we’ve come!

We hope you’ve enjoyed this story for Beauty Revived: Part 22.