Family is a word that has precious meaning. Some people take family for granted, not realizing there are couples who are yearning to be parents and become a family. For some couples, becoming a family is a physical and emotional struggle. And then for others it happens exactly how they planned it. Our family story has a little of both: physical and emotional struggles, yet unknown to us, it was happening just as it was planned. This is our story of how the two of us became a family of four thanks to LFCS.
My husband and I are fortunate to have two adoption stories, our daughter’s and our son’s. While their stories are different, they both are a wonderful beginning to our now family of four. We first met and brought home Morgan when she was 11 days old. The moment we received the call from Christine that we were chosen by a birthmother and birthfather, we couldn’t believe it. We had waited patiently for years to get that call. It is one of the greatest days of our lives because we finally became parents and a family for the first time. That was almost 5 years ago and it’s hard to remember what our lives were like before we adopted our daughter.
Then a few years later after patiently waiting again, we got the call from Janeene that a birthmother wanted to meet us and to be the adoptive parents of her son, we met Dylan’s birthmother before she gave birth, which was different from the adoption of our daughter. We were excited that our family of three was turning into a family of four. A few weeks later after meeting our son’s birthmother, she gave birth and we have been with Dylan since he was only 5 hours old and now, unbelievably, he is one year old.
We feel fortunate to have met both of our children’s birth parents. With Mother’s Day approaching and Father’s Day just around the corner, we can’t help but think of their birthparents. Our family’s tradition is to send a Mother’s Day card to our children’s birthmothers, also a Father’s Day card to our children’s birthfathers. We also say a prayer on those days for God to bless them with strength, love, health and happiness in their lives. Without them, I would not be a mother, my husband would not be a father and the four of us would not be blessed to be the family we have become.
This year as you celebrate Mother’s and Father’s Day, please say an extra prayer for all the birth parents who have blessed so many adoptive parents with the incredible gift of becoming parents and forever making a family of their own.
Jenny, Eric, Morgan and Dylan