Randi with Katheryn and Gethey
Too often, the stories of birth parents are heard less in the media.
Randi’s descriptions of the physical and emotional challenges of unplanned pregnancy and adoption are honest. With the support of her family, she made the decision to pursue adoption and enjoys a very open relationship with her daughter Gethey and Matthew, Katheryn and Verity (Gethey’s adoptive family).
“There’s a lot of things about adoption that people don’t know,” Randi says. “There’s the standards that you give your baby up and then you go away. And it doesn’t have to be like that.”
Randi knew that she wasn’t ready or able to be the parent that she wanted to be to her daughter Gethey. Her story shows just how hard the decision was and how much she loved her daughter.
“The moment I saw her, there was nothing else that mattered more than her,” Randi says. “It was overwhelming because I’d never felt that before. I don’t know how to explain it. I’ve never held or made anything so important. It was like a step back from reality, so many emotions, one word doesn’t explain it.”
Randi, who had the opportunity to meet the adoptive family during her pregnancy, forged deep bonds with Matthew, Katheryn and their daughter Verity. The extended adoptive and birth families of Matthew and Katheryn’s two daughters have access to a blog that Katheryn updates with the girls lives.
“Every picture, it brightens my day. There are two things I check every day, the blog and my Facebook,” Randi says. “When I see a random picture that she puts on there, it just makes me feel like she [Katheryn] is not forgetting about me, and keeping up with what she said she was going to do.”
You can read the rest of Randi’s Testimonial on our website. And next week, you can read Matthew, Katheryn and their children’s adoption story during next week’s testimonial. If you’d like to share your story, email MediaSpecialist@americanadoptions.com.
