Mike, Holly and Madyson's Adoption Story
Mike and I were married in 1996 and we immediately tried to have a baby. After years of infertiltiy treatments that were unsuccessful I woke up one morning and realized that the reason we were doing these treatments was to become pregnant and to have a baby. I then realized that you are only pregnant for 9 months of your life but a parent forever. Although a baby may not have grown under my heart, we knew that a baby would grow within our hearts. That was the deciding factor for us in choosing to adopt.
When we took our first step down the path of adoption we were nervous and had no idea what to expect. How long would we wait? Would a birthmother like us enough to pick us? What if we never got picked? Also, we were petrifed of the home study process and had no idea what to expect. We were nervous for nothing. It was a breeze. Our home study went wonderfully and we then recieved the package to put together our profile. We wrote and rewrote and rewrote our birthmother letter many times until we were finally sure it was the right one. The day we sent the profile to the agency was so exciting. We knew that within a few weeks we would be shown to birthmothers.
We were unsure initially of what to do or to buy. We needed to have things in the house readily available if we got a call immediately so we just bought the basics. It was so exciting to go to a store and buy clothes and things and to order furniture for the baby we knew would be coming home sooner or later. It was the greatest feeling to buy these things for our child rather than gifts for family or friends. Even though you are adopting you are also expecting. Our family and friends were extremely supportive of our decision and helped to ease those six months.
The agency was wonderful throughout the whole process. They were there to encourage us and support us during our wait. Every month we were in contact with Liz, an adoption specialist at American Adoptions, who was kind and caring and kept encouraging us that we would eventually be matched with a birthmother. There were many days where we would sit and wonder if a birthmother was looking at our profile that day. We made ourselves crazy until we realized that it was beyond our control and the control of the agency. The birthmother had to pick us!!!
After six months of waiting we got the call we were dreaming of. We were matched and our birthmother was due in about three weeks. From that moment on the agency pooled together to really help us get through the conference call and the first time we met our birthmother. Laurie, an American Adoptions social worker, was terrific and was a wonderful intermediary between us and the birthmother. She went above and beyond to help us all. We had a wonderful birthmother who allowed us to be in the delivery room and it was the most amazing experience of my life to see my little girl be born. After she was cleaned up and put in my arms her eyes were wide open and she grasped onto my finger it was the greatest feeling I ever experienced. When I looked into her eyes I realized I was a MOMMY!! The dream we were dreaming for so long had finally come true.
We are also grateful to Lori, another social worker with the agency, who went over the hospital plan with us to let us know what to expect and let us know how many people are still uniformed about adoption. I am so thankful for that call because we faced a situation of ignorance and the call from Lori made us ready and able to handle the situation.
Our little girl is the light of our lives.
After many months of having our profile shown we had days of sadness and feeling rejected. After six months with no match, Liz let us know that the baby that was meant to be ours would be and she was right. Madyson was born on October 2, 2003 and because of our birthmother, who made the best choice possible, we became a family finally!! Our birthmother was truly wonderful and we will be forever grateful to her for giving us this GIFT. We believe that adoption is not only the gift of love but the gift of life.
We did a semi open adoption and have no further contact with our birthmother but she will forever be in our hearts and prayers. We can't wait to do this again and hope we will be fortunate enough to be given another gift.
American Adoptions was there for us every step of the way and was always there to answer questions, provide guidance, and give encouragment. They have a wonderful, kind, and caring staff. We checked into many different agencies prior to choosing this one and found they did not meet our needs and we wanted an agency that was reputable and large that would give us a realistic waiting time. We were told 3-9 months and waited six so they were accurate.
The agency also was very kind to our birthmother and helped her out tremendously and gave her the opportunity to better her life. The agency is not only there for the adoptive families but for the birthmothers as well and that was also a deciding factor in choosing American Adoptions.
We would be more than happy to share more of our story with any of you who want to send comments to us. We have recommended this agency to everyone we know who is considering adoption. We are forever thankful that this agency exists and that we are a family with a beautiful little girl! Best of luck and best wishes to all of you considering adoption we hope our story helps you to walk down this road with this agency and to know that you to will be parents one day.
With love and best wishes, Holly, Mike & Madyson
