An Adoptive Families Perspective
“That’s your daughter”
When we were married Justin and I dreamed of starting our family. As the years went by and we watched our family and friends beginning and adding to their families, we couldn’t help but wonder why us? Why were we not able to have children? It was so hard to watch others living the life we had dreamed about. Finally we decided that maybe it just wasn’t meant for us to be parents and gave up on the dream of having a family. After more time went by we decided that we still had a desire and love for a child. So we began the process of considering adoption. I learned about All About U Adoptions from a mutual friend and it’s the only call I made. From the very first phone call I knew they were who we wanted to work with. They were warm and caring and I immediately felt comfortable.
As soon as we completed our home study and were finishing putting together our profile book we got the first call of a profile to consider. When we said yes we never dreamt we would be selected the very first time. Unfortunately things didn’t work out as we had hoped. This left us wondering if adoption was the right path for us and we considered not trying again. After much discussion and prayer we decided to push forward. Several months later we finally had another match with our Birthfamily and it was a baby girl to be born on Justin’s birthday!
Jayla’s birth was by far the most amazing day in our lives and an experience worth waiting for! The moment I heard Jayla’s first cry our Birthmom looked me in the eyes and said “That’s your daughter.” At that moment every emotion of the past came rushing over me and it felt like I was finally able to let go of the disappointment, anger and pain from the past. We believe that God used this journey to not only strengthen our relationship as husband and wife but to open our eyes and hearts to the relationship that can be formed between a Birthfamily and an adoptive family. We are currently continuing to build our relationship with our Birthfamily and look forward to what the future holds. Our lives are forever changed because of the love and support from all of the AAU staff, our Birthfamily, friends and our families. Adoption is a journey in which no two paths are the same and I praise God for leading us down our path to the adoption of our daughter Jayla Jean!