Kevin and Colleen adopted with us twice, once in 2006 and again in 2007. Daughter Cara was born healthy but premature. Kevin and Colleen had the opportunity to really bond with her birth parents. When son Danny was born, the couple spent time with his birth parents as well. But several days after Danny’s birth, his birth mother decided that she wanted to parent him after all.
“Although we were devastated, we completely understood her decision and respected her for it. She was making the most difficult choice that any mother could ever possibly make and she decided that she wanted him back,” they write.
After a week of soul-searching, Danny’s birth mother decided that adoption was the right choice after all! Kevin and Colleen write:
“Words cannot express our gratitude to both Cara and Danny’s birth parents. They are some of the strongest people we have ever met and will ever know. To know so resolutely that their babies belong in our family is so priceless and a story that our children will always be told. Cara and Danny’s birth parents have given us the most precious gifts that anyone could possibly give – they have given us life, love and eternal happiness with our forever family! Cara and Danny will always know their adoption stories and of the wonderful people who brought them into this world to join our family.
We look at the minor disruption in Danny’s placement as just that – minor. His birth mother needed to be 100 percent sure that she was doing what was best for him and for her own family. That week that he was not with us is a week that his birth mother got to share precious time with her son and to say goodbye to him. We would never take that away from her. Never once were we angry with her or mad at her. We always knew that what was best for Danny would become reality and our hopes and prayers were answered.
Now that we are home and enjoying daily life with our two wonderful babies – we realize how blessed we are to have formed our family so quickly! We are the luckiest family alive! To have two babies in under one year is truly amazing and I’m sure one for the record books. Cara and Danny already have so much in common! They both have similar ethnic heritage. They are exactly nine months (to the day) apart and will most likely be in the same grade! They are going to be forever best friends and be there for each other through everything.
We also realized something else that we hope you as a prospective adoptive family take away from this – both of our children were meant to be with us. Although we had two very short matches – we would have waited years for both Cara and Danny because they belong with us and we were meant to meet their birth parents! I know it sounds cliché and everyone hears this along the way of their adoption journey from one person or another, but it is absolutely true that each child finds their way into an adoptive home that is meant to be, no matter how long the wait.”
