This is a time of year when people tend to reflect on what on the memories of the past year. This January, I’ve been thinking about how grateful I am for my open adoption.
My husband and I adopted our daughter domestically when she was 3 months old, over four years ago. Our adoption family day is December 23, so she became the most precious Christmas gift we could ever receive. Along with our daughter, we also gained a relationship with her biological family.
Going into our adoption process, my husband and I knew we would like an open adoption. Having contact with her birth family is so important – and will continue to become more important – as Anna gets older and understands adoption. There are questions that Anna is going to ask us that we may not be able to answer, but that her birth mother will.
Anna will not have to wonder about what her birth parents look like or if their personalities are like hers. She will not have to wonder if she has any birth siblings. She will not have to wonder about her medical history, especially important because she was a preemie and had medical concerns at birth. I am so grateful that she will have that knowledge.
I am grateful for our relationship with Anna’s birth parents. Obviously, open adoptions look different for every family. For us, we live in different states, so there is some traveling involved when we have our scheduled visits. However, we also Skype so the relationships can be maintained without uncomfortably long interludes. Through our visits, Anna gets to have a relationship with her step-brothers, which I feel is especially important for them at this time and for which Anna will be grateful; that she will know her siblings.
While it was an emotional experience early on, we now have a very stable and wonderful relationship with our daughter’s biological family. I am grateful that Anna has them in her life to love her.
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