Thanksgiving, Adoption, and Hope

Thanksgiving of 2013 will be forever deeply etched in my mind. It was when we met and then adopted our daughter. My husband and I were working with an adoption agency, our home study was completed, and were waiting to be matched with an expectant mother for domestic adoption.

We were matched in the summer of 2013 with an expectant mother three months before her due date.  We met her in person a few times and texted constantly. We had contact with her for three months until the day before the birth when she decided to parent her son.

While we were devastated, we always knew that could be her decision and we respected her for that. So we went back to waiting for that phone call and one day it came. The Tuesday before Thanksgiving, the pastor from my church called and said a member from our church had contacted her wanting to find someone to adopt her daughter, who was then in the NICU.

We contacted our adoption agency and arranged a visit with the baby’s mother and father the day after Thanksgiving. Her daughter had just been discharged from the NICU. The meeting went very well. During December, we had many meetings, with the birth parents, the adoption agency, and our lawyer.  On December 23, Anna became our daughter.

I hope that this story will serve as a positive reminder for everyone. If you’re waiting, don’t give up hope. Stay as positive as you can. I know that is far easier to say than to do, but trust me on this one. Know that there are people out there who have been in your situation. And no matter what, no matter how to try to remember the blessings that are already abundant in your life.