Our Adoption StoryRobin & Shannon

Our Decision

When we first met, we talked about starting a family, and adoption was always the way. We decided to get married and have a family late in life. We both had friends and family that were touched by adoption. Naturally, when we told everyone we were adopting, they were so excited for us. After trying to adopt on our own through social media and getting scammed, we decided to join Angel Adoption. The agency that did our home study had worked with Angel and recommended them to us, so it felt like the best choice.

Starting the adoption process was scary because there are so many unknowns. You don’t know if this will work out and what you are signing up for entirely. There was so much to learn, but we were ready for whatever came our way. We felt we had a good support system and wanted to grow our family so badly.

The Road to Our Baby

When we started our journey, we chose a closed adoption because we did not know much about open adoption. We thought it would be hard on the child and awkward for us to have birthparents in the picture. However, after educating ourselves, we changed our mind and felt that it was best for our child(ren) to know their story. We decided to talk openly about their adoption from the beginning so they never felt betrayed or confused.

You hear about so many different adoption stories, but we feel ours was unique because the birthmom decided to parent for the first seven months of the child’s life. We got to know her by communicating for a short amount of time before deciding to meet with her. She lived in Ohio and we lived in Illinois, so we made the nine-hour drive. We met in a Denny’s at a back corner table. The birthmom, sister, and grandma were all there and handed us the baby when we arrived. We had guarded hearts, but that did not stop us from falling in love instantly.

Happy Ending

We love our child’s birthmom and are so thankful for our relationship with her. We have an open adoption, and she came to our daughter's first birthday. We communicate via social media for the most part, and we are grateful to have her in our lives. Our birthmom has since gotten married and has two more children of her own. We are so happy to see her thrive.

The hardest part of the adoption journey for us was the wait, but as cliche as it sounds, it was worth it. Everything we went through was what led us to our beautiful daughter. Staying busy while we were waiting for our opportunity helped us and made us feel prepared. We started the nursery and built a beautiful library for our child. We spend time as a couple since we realized that time would be impossible once we started a family. So stay hopeful and trust the process. Everything will work out when it is supposed to. Enjoy all the moments in between, and be patient. The child that is meant for you will be worth the wait.