Elizabeth’s Story
Mother’s Day…A day I thought I may never get to celebrate as a mother myself, but I learned God had the most perfect plan all along. A very dear friend of mine always said God’s delay is NOT his denial. Words I came to live by during our adoption journey.
When my husband and I got married, we knew adding to our family was going to be a struggle. At the time though, we had no idea how big of a challenge it was going to be. After several years of trying through via multiple IVF treatments to become pregnant, we realized that we needed to take a break from it all and just enjoy being married.
A year or so passed, and then we decided to pursue adoption. We had our first meeting with Adoption Information Services on May 12, 2015. We began our home study in June and we were actually matched with our first family in July, 2015. We were so excited and so were our family and friends. We were matched for six months and then on December 4, 2015, we received a call that the birth family had changed their minds and had decided to keep the baby. This baby had grown in our hearts and minds over the last several months. But we had to accept the fact that we were now officially unmatched and could no longer parent the baby that we had loved. Our adoption packet began to be shown to several families again, but we didn’t get selected again until August, 2016. We were once again very excited, but due to our previous experience, we were cautiously optimistic. We were able to meet the birthmom in September and immediately fell in love with her. We received a call on October 26 that she was being induced and we needed to start heading to her state. Shortly after 4 a.m., we met OUR son and he was absolutely perfect in every way, shape, and form. Everything went perfectly at the hospital with her delivery. We arrived home two weeks before Thanksgiving. We were able to spend the holiday season with our son surrounded by all of our family and friends. That had supported us and loved us during this whole journey.
Fast forward a couple of months and now I’m getting ready for my first Mother’s Day as a mother. There are times that I still can’t believe he’s mine. I feel so extremely blessed that God has blessed me with such an amazing son. I love watching him grow and to see his little personality come out a little more each day. I’m now very thankful for the way everything worked out because I believe, with all my heart that he was always meant to be my son.
As I’m sitting here getting ready to finally celebrate Mother’s Day, I know that someone is hurting and can’t wait for this day to be over. I’ve been there and I know exactly how you feel. All of your friends are getting pregnant and every corner you turn there is another baby in your face. I know you feel like it’s never going to be your turn. But I promise, your turn is coming and it will be worth the wait, the pain, and the tears!
Always remember, GOD’S DELAY IS NOT HIS DENIAL!
Katie’s Story
As Mother’s Day is approaching this weekend, I cannot help to remember November 7th. This is the day that my dreams of a mother became a reality. A year after I started my adoption process I was flying to meet the birth-mother to my future son. As I walked into the restaurant so nervous and anxious, I was greeted by this beautiful woman’s smile. She introduced herself and asked if I would like to see a picture of our son. Our Son! I couldn’t believe the words would ever describe me. She handed me his ultrasound picture. At that moment, my heart opened for not only my future son, but for her as well. As we sat there and talked like old friends, she kept reassuring me that I would be a great mom to our son. How amazing was she! Her love for her child was amazing and the gift that she was about to give me is truly a blessing and answer to prayers. We talked for hours both laughing and crying. I could not imagine a better meeting. People often describe their adoption experiences; I never imagined that I would it would be this perfect. You could feel God’s hand in all of this. If I could have adopted her too, I would have! The next month we communicated by email, and it was very important to her that I experience the birthing process. She wanted me to be in the room with her to hold her hand. As I arrived to be by her side during the delivery, I didn’t know that she planned for me to cut the cord and be handed our son as soon as he was born.
Mother’s day is going to be a special day for me. A day that I thought I would never be able to celebrate. Because of this amazing young lady my life forever changed and I can know stand at church on Mother’s Day. She will always be in my thoughts and prayers, and as I looked at my little boy I will remember how much she loved him and how blessed I truly am.