The advantages of adoption are, quite simply, endless. Whether it’s helping the birth mother continue her education, giving an infertile couple the joy of parenting, or providing a child with countless opportunities in life, the advantages of adoption are everywhere you look. However, not all of the advantages are always on the surface, as many are cumulative and continue to develop over time.

Jenny’s Journey

Most adoptions begin with an unplanned pregnancy, as did this one. Jenny, an 18-year-old high school senior, missed her period. For the next few days, she became more and more nervous why her period hadn’t yet occurred. She feared the worst.
 
One day after school, she rushed to the store and then home with a pregnancy test in hand. Sure enough, it indicated that she was indeed pregnant.

She began shaking as her mind raced one million miles an hour: “How will I finish school? How will I afford college? How will I afford my car? How will I get a second job if I have a baby to take care of? How will I have time to study? How do I get out of this? Why can’t things go back to how they were?

Jenny continued to fumble with her emotions throughout the week. She finally decided that having an abortion was the only way out of the situation that she found herself in, even though she knew it wasn’t right.

On an early Thursday evening, Jenny stepped out onto her front porch as the sun was beginning to set. She looked up the road, let out a deep sigh, and begrudgingly paced up the sidewalk toward the abortion clinic.

Jenny had trouble looking anywhere but down at her feet as her head felt like it was being weighed down by an anchor. She noticed she was purposely avoiding each crack in the sidewalk, just as she had done since grade school.

After a few blocks, Jenny passed by a park. She heard children playing, and laughing. Then she heard a mother call to her child, “Joey, time to go home and see dad! Tell your friends ‘bye.’”

Jenny’s pace immediately slowed as the mother’s innocuous comment resonated deeply throughout Jenny’s body. She pictured the two going home together and sitting down at the dinner table with Dad. She wondered what they’d do after dinner: Play a board game? Read a book? Watch a movie, perhaps?

From then on, every block she passed seemed longer. Her mind continued to race, and her stomach felt nauseous. She knew what she was contemplating was wrong.

Jenny crumbled on the sidewalk and cried. She sat on her knees with her hands at her face, imagining what her life would be like following this decision. After taking a moment, she slowly pulled herself up, turned around, and began walking home.

On her way home, something occurred to her. Her friend, who moved away a few years ago, was adopted. Jenny remembered how cheerful her friend always was and how much she loved her family. Jenny envisioned her friend’s toothy smile, curly blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and the glow that always seemed to envelop her. Jenny smiled, quickened her pace and began running home.

The front door flew open and slammed into the wall, leaving a mark. Jenny ran into the kitchen, opened a drawer, and flipped through the phone book.
 
Jenny picked up the phone and dialed 1-800-ADOPTION.

Charles and Claire’s Change of Heart

Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, a married couple of five years have just endured their third miscarriage. Their first miscarriage was excruciating, and the second was somehow even worse. The third, however, was something totally indescribable to Charles and Claire.

The day after his wife was released from the hospital, Charles found himself in the living room doing some soul searching as Claire lay in bed. He looked at a framed picture of Claire and himself that they had taken at the Niagara Falls, back when they were happier than they had ever hoped.

He closed his eyes tightly and thought to himself, “What did we do wrong? Why us? Don’t we deserve to be parents? Does God not want us to have kids?”

After wiping the tears from his eyes and cheeks, he pulled out the family photo album. He saw pictures of himself as a young boy on vacations with his parents, playing in the backyard with his two sisters, and hugging his baby Pembroke Welsh Corgi. He also saw pictures of his wife with her brother and sister, enjoying life as kids.

At this point something very obvious occurred to him that hadn’t before. His and Claire’s dreams were to become parents, not pregnant. He immediately jumped off the couch and paced upstairs to the bedroom.

“That’s it,” Charles said after sitting on the bed next to his wife. “We are not going through this anymore. What do you say about calling an adoption agency tomorrow?

“Honey,” replied Claire. “All I want is a child, and I don’t care how.”

Advantages in Life

Jenny spent an entire day studying a packet of adoptive parent profiles sent to her from American Adoptions, but one clearly stood out among the rest: Charles and Claire’s. Jenny just knew they would be the best parents for her baby. And to top it off, Jenny’s blonde, blue-eyed adopted friend who helped her realize the advantages of adoption, was in fact named Claire. Everything just seemed right about the couple.

Months later, Jenny gave birth to a healthy baby boy, Elliot. She spent the entire day in the hospital room with her baby, and that evening she decided it was time to introduce him to his adoptive parents. Jenny knew it would be difficult to give her baby to the new parents, but she had been prepared for all of those emotions by her Adoption Specialist, who reminded Jenny of why she made her decision to adopt in the first place.

When she saw the joy on their faces, she envisioned Elliot’s future childhood full of amazing opportunities, advantages and memories, all of which she would be unable to provide him at this point in her life. She reminded herself that this adoption was about what was best for Elliot.

Today, Jenny receives letters and pictures of her son from Charles and Claire, as well as a telephone call on Christmas and Elliot’s birthday. Both parties are happy with their relationship and plan on taking a trip together to Disney World on Elliot’s fourth birthday.

Jenny was able to graduate high school and is currently enrolled in college, where she is studying to become a social worker and help complete families through adoption, just as Jenny’s Adoption Specialist helped her find Elliot the perfect family.
 
Charles and Claire remain on cloud nine. All they ever wanted out of life was to become parents, and Jenny gave them that opportunity. Their struggles with infertility are in the past – all that matters now is that Elliot is their son. They are so happy with the adoption that they are planning on adopting a brother or sister for Elliot in the near future.

As for Elliot, the advantages that he will be provided in life because of his birth mother’s selfless act are truly limitless, and when he has his own children, those advantages and opportunities will carry on forever.