Adoption Story

I have felt the need to write a blurb or two or three about our journey to adoption. As most of you know Russ and I adopted our little Gracie Girl. The baby road was not an easy one for us, I was the issue not Russ, with PCOS as the cause. For me to be the problem was one I couldn't wrap my mind around. I seemed healthy, my mom conceived if she sneezed--I thought it all would be easy. I didn't know what was going on in my husband's mind to be honest, he puts on his usual kind, supportive game face and goes about life with a happy, cheerful heart. This is not to say he didn't have his own emotions running rampant in his heart. On top of all the emotions you add the sting of hearing everyone around you is having a baby either by choice or by accident.

One year into "infertility" and six cycles of clomide on top of metformin, and I had enough. Let's just say my hormones had run amuck. Russ never mentioned having me institutionalized but I am sure the thought crossed his mind. We decided we had enough and went off medications. It was then that we decided to turn it over to God and wait.

This is not to say that it got easier for us once we decided to turn it over to the Lord. It was a real test of our faith. Both Russ and I had felt strong impressions that it was time to start our family. We struggled understanding why God would make us feel this way, but make it seemingly impossible for us to bring a child into the world.

Everything changed in early November of 2004. We recieved a call from Russ's dad explaining a situation of a girl in his parents' ward by the name of Alisha. Alisha had become pregnant during her engagement, and the young man whom she was to wed decided he couldn't be a part of it all and broke off the engagement. After much prayer, Alisha had made the difficult decision to place the baby for adoption. The way I understand it is that she prayed about giving the baby up and our names had come to mind. I had never met this girl, though I imagine that Russ's parents had shared our story with Alisha's family in passing and they thought of us as they prayed for an answer to their prayer asking the Lord with whom they should place this precious little baby. Little did Alisha know that her decision would be an answer to our prayers as well. When asked by Russ's parents, "What do you think?" I cried and told Russ, "Tell them yes, please tell them yes."

I can't put into words what it means to Russ and me to have Gracie in our home (though I imagine you have already seen from the number of blog entries about Grace that we, like many parents, are a bit obsessed with our child). There's not a doubt in our minds that Grace was meant to be in our home. And hindsight has helped this experience become an incredible faith-building tool for us. The strong impression of "it's time to start your family" which at one time was a source of great frustration to us, was the same feeling which helped us recognize that the phone call we received from Russ's parents would change the course of our lives.

I find it amazing how the Lord so thoughtfully and kindly places people in our lives years before they are ever go to be of influence. Who knew that our two families would have such an experience as this? Obviously, neither of us knew the magnitude of the other's situation. For me, there is no question that the Lord's hands guided us to one another. In the end when I think back on this experience I thank God for Alisha. I am thankful that he never left Alisha's side, he gave her the strength needed and the ability to be in tune enough with his will to make a decision so dificult, she truly is a blessing beyond belief. We love you Alisha.