Personal Adoption Story

Dave and I were married in 1995 and had dreams of having a large family with lots of children running around. We began trying to have children within the first two years of marriage. After four years of fertility treatments, surgeries for us both, miscarriages, and shattered hearts, it was clear that God had a different plan for us. Our children were going to come to us via another way…people we now affectionately call our birth moms. Two very selfless and caring individuals who have given us the family we’ve always dreamed of.

We registered with American Adoptions in July of 2001 and by September our home study and all of our paperwork was complete. We were officially "waiting" to be matched. I remember the phone call like it was yesterday. It came on a Wednesday in late November. Our social worker simply left a message saying, "Congratulations! You've been matched with a birth mother, please call as soon as you can." I remember playing it and my heart flip-flopping! Well, our oldest daughter, Grace was born just a little over 2 weeks later.

Grace brought us so much joy that we were so excited to adopt again. And we anxiously awaited her first birthday so we could put our paperwork in for our next baby. We became activated again in February of 2003 and within 6 days we were matched again! What a wonderful whirlwind! And on April 17th, our second angel, Sophia, was born.

To say that we've been incredibly blessed sounds cliche and is an understatement. We've received two miracles from God through American Adoptions and by the brave hearts of the girls birth mothers.

We arrived within hours of both of our childrens birth and got to meet our birth parents. We are so thrilled we had that experience so we can share all of that with them as they get older. We even took pictures together, which was so special. The overall experience of adopting Grace and Sophia all around has been wonderful. They truly are the light in our lives. They are both such beautiful, happy, bright little girls that make us laugh and love more every day. Because of them we now are experiencing life to the fullest: we get to see glimpses of God every day through them; we get giggles under the covers on Saturday mornings; more love than our hearts can hold; a tiny hand to hold, usually covered with jam; big hugs; someone to laugh yourself silly with no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day; and mostly, we have our daughters. Perfect in every way. Truly gifts from God.

We are looking forward to adopting again with American Adoptions in the future…yes, three! We will anxiously await the next phone call...the next journey and to meet our next amazing addition! If you would like to talk to us about our story please email us at pennstate.alum@verizon.net.

Fondly,

Jenny and Dave