On Thursday (June 11th) we attended a Waiting Families meeting at our agency. They host one every few months. We met after Steve was done with work and drove over together. For this meeting, the agency invited a birthmother and the adoptive parents to talk about their open adoption experience. We were so glad that we went to the meeting. I recognized the couple from our agency's website; they had been on the site back when we were deciding to go with the agency. They shared their experience of going through the home study and getting their profile ready. The birthmom talked about how she chose adoption and then about how she chose the couple. After meeting and getting to know each other, they decided the adoption would be an open adoption. They communicated through emails and texts and met up with each other for appointments as well. They have a similar relationship - emails, phone calls, visits - now as well.
It was really good to hear about such a positive experience on all sides. The birthmom seemed very happy with her choice of adoptive parents as well as with her choice to have an open adoption. The adoptive parents said they couldn't have dreamed of a better situation all-around. Their daughter (who is just 7 1/2 months old) was sitting with the three of them and kept hamming it up for everyone there!
We're both glad we went. We feel like we learn more each time we go. So far, we have heard from a birthmom and her family (her mother and her sister) as well as the adoptive couple and birthmom from Thursday night. We've also heard from another couple who adopted domestically, as well as a woman who (along with her husband) adopted internationally from Russia. We haven't heard any talks from the birthfather's perspective yet; maybe we will in the future.
8 comments:
What an awesome experience! Can't wait until you are one of their "success" stories!!
that's awesome that your agency has couples and birthparents that are willing to open themselves up like that!
These sounds like really great, informative meetings. I'll bet they relieve anxiety each time you go. I agree that it's great your agency offers this type of support!
I am so glad that you are getting to have experiences like this. I wish I could talk in front of soon to be parents about adoption, but not sure I am ready or the best story to share.
You and your husband Steve are woderful advocates for couples, like yourselves, who are waiting to become parents. Your gift of love and support to this community as well as your friends and family will be blessed. You will be a success story.
Thanks - I'm really glad that they offer meetings like this, too. Everyone was very open about answering questions that we might have had and about sharing their experiences.
Ranae - :) Thank you!
Birthfathers are so often overlooked, I think...that would be an interesting topic. Glad you had a good time and learned more. While were waiting, I felt like every experience we had along those lines was helping to prepare us to be even better parents!
Melba
Sounds like it was a great experience. How nice that you have the opportunity to meet with other waiting families.
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