Our Adoption Story
How it all began...
An Unexpected Journey
We always knew we wanted to have a family, so we were thrilled when we were blessed with our son, August. After finding immense joy in parenthood, we started trying for additional children. The following year, we welcomed our daughter, Eleanor. Sadly, just a short 29 days after our daughter was born, she passed away unexpectedly. We were absolutely shattered.
Having multiple children was our dream, but we weren’t sure we would be able to get pregnant again. We started looking into both IVF and adoption and our research led us to Angel Adoption. We weren’t necessarily ready to adopt right away, but we were told placement could take anywhere from one to two years or more, so it felt right for us to start the process sooner rather than later. We joined Angel’s program about four months after losing Eleanor, and we prepared ourselves for a long journey.
A Destined Match
From day one, it felt as though Eleanor had a hand in our adoption. To our surprise, only two months after joining Angel’s program, our profile was selected by an expectant mother for the first and only time. We texted with her that evening. She was pregnant with a baby girl and she lived only an hour away from us. The expectant mother and the expectant father were making an adoption plan together, and despite being so young, they were both truly amazing.
After spending a month of texting every day with the expectant mother, we met her and the expectant father in person for lunch. Both August and Jordan’s mother (aka Grandma) joined us, and it was the best afternoon. Conversion flowed naturally. When it came time to leave, the expectant mother said that our time together really reaffirmed their decision to select us. When we asked what had initially drawn the two of them to us, she told us they had looked at a lot of profiles, but our story about Eleanor stood out to them. They also wanted their daughter to be raised with an adventurous spirit, and they thought we seemed like an adventurous family. That meant so much to us and we felt deeply honored to have been chosen by them.
Welcoming Evelyn
The expectant mother was due just after the new year, and although we weren’t sure she would make it to her due date, the doctor ended up scheduling an induction on the original due date.
Because of the scheduled induction and how close we lived, we were easily able to make it to the hospital for the birth. The expectant mother delivered via C-section, and she allowed us to wait in the recovery room where we’d eventually meet our newest family member. We finally welcomed our beautiful daughter, Evelyn, to the world just after she was born. She was absolutely perfect, and we were totally in love the moment we met her.
Family Time at the Hospital
Evelyn’s birthparents had requested she stay in their room with them. While this made us nervous that they may change their minds, we wanted to support their birth plan. After the tough year that we’d had, we still felt as though we were protecting ourselves. We spent the first three days visiting with Evelyn and her birthparents. As our visits with them got longer, they began to open up more and more about their lives and why they chose adoption. It made us feel so good that they trusted us enough to share their story and to place Evelyn with our family.
Four days after Evelyn was born, her birth parents signed their consents and we signed ours. On Evelyn’s last full day in the hospital, we spent the entire day with her and her birth parents as one big family. It was a truly special day that we’ll always hold near to our hearts. Evelyn’s birthmother had requested that we all leave the hospital together. While this was very emotional for all of us, we were so glad she suggested it. We gave lots of hugs and promises to stay in touch.
Our Completed Family
Our adoption journey went much quicker than we expected, but we wouldn’t change a thing. At times, we struggled with the guilt of moving forward so quickly after Eleanor passed away, but we know in our minds and our hearts that Eleanor brought us to Evelyn. Both of our daughters were meant to bless our family in their own special ways.