I'm thrilled to share Kyle and Bri's adoption story today on my blog! Their adoption journey was full of surprises! Some of those surprises were heartbreaking and confusing. During the middle of their adoption journey they found out they were pregnant. They were overjoyed! A few weeks later they received the devastating news that they had miscarried. I know they wrestled with God and wondered what He was up to? While some of the surprises in their journey were heartbreaking and confusing, God had a HUGE surprise in store that none of us were expecting. I will never forget when Bri shared their match with me, she said "My due date for the baby we recently miscarried was the end of November as well. A month I thought would bring pain and revisited grief will now be marked with life and expectant hope." Bri shares more of their story below...
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We believe adoption is an incredible picture of God’s love for us and a picture of the cost He paid to make us a part of His family. Looking back over the past year and our adoption journey, it’s cool to look at moments that felt so confusing or painful and now see how they led to something so amazing, our precious son. As we faced the heartbreak and hopelessness of infertility and a miscarriage, we believe God was working in our hearts and preparing us for the story ahead.
God taught us so much throughout the process. It required daily surrender to the Lord’s plans and not allowing fear or doubt to guide my heart. Waiting is so hard. Feeling totally out of control is even harder. Hearing “no” is difficult, it’s hard not to take it personally or feel like something is wrong with you. It was in these places that brought personal and spiritual growth for us individually and in our marriage.
We received a phone call from an attorney in mid-June, totally out of the blue and unexpected. He told us of an expectant mom and her baby boy that was due in November. She opted to allow the attorney to choose an adoptive family for her as this decision seemed much too overwhelming for her. The attorney looked over the list of profiles in hand and chose us to be the adoptive parents, if we chose to say yes. As we looked over her information, everything about it seemed right. Honestly, after looking at previous situations and presenting to a handful of other cases, we always wondered what the “right one” would feel or look like. It’s so easy to overthink the process and look for things written in the sky. That obviously did not happen for us but there was a peace and confidence with this situation that we just knew this was to be our son. We took time to process and pray, and quickly gave our “YES”. And then began the long wait.
God taught us so much throughout the process. It required daily surrender to the Lord’s plans and not allowing fear or doubt to guide my heart. Waiting is so hard. Feeling totally out of control is even harder. Hearing “no” is difficult, it’s hard not to take it personally or feel like something is wrong with you. It was in these places that brought personal and spiritual growth for us individually and in our marriage.
We received a phone call from an attorney in mid-June, totally out of the blue and unexpected. He told us of an expectant mom and her baby boy that was due in November. She opted to allow the attorney to choose an adoptive family for her as this decision seemed much too overwhelming for her. The attorney looked over the list of profiles in hand and chose us to be the adoptive parents, if we chose to say yes. As we looked over her information, everything about it seemed right. Honestly, after looking at previous situations and presenting to a handful of other cases, we always wondered what the “right one” would feel or look like. It’s so easy to overthink the process and look for things written in the sky. That obviously did not happen for us but there was a peace and confidence with this situation that we just knew this was to be our son. We took time to process and pray, and quickly gave our “YES”. And then began the long wait.
On September 4 we received a call that A (our son's birthmom) was admitted to the hospital for pre-term labor at just 29 weeks of pregnancy. The doctors worked hard at stopping the contractions and from many states away, we prayed hard. This cycle of frequent hospital admissions would continue to repeat itself for the remainder of the pregnancy. We had most of our bags packed and phone within reach at all times. By the grace of God, our son Oliver made it full-term, in fact just a few days short of 40 weeks! We will never forget the moment we saw him for the first time. Instant love, joy, and overwhelming healing from the years of grief.
One of our biggest answered prayers was the opportunity to meet and develop a relationship with Oliver’s birth mom for the first time in the hospital. The moments we were able to spend with her were sweet, emotional, and will forever be cherished. We have stayed in contact with her since returning home and are so excited to continue to grow our relationship. She is so special to us and her bravery and selflessness shown in her decision is something we respect incredibly.
Leah was amazing and a strong support system throughout our adoption journey. She was very quick to respond to my e-mails, answer any and all questions we had and was able to identify with the many emotions felt during the adoption process. She reminded us countless times that God was in control, that He had the right child already planned for our family, and that all the “no’s” were leading us to our “yes”.
Our hope and prayer is that Oliver’s life and our adoption story would make much of God. That it would speak of His goodness in the midst of brokenness and hopelessness, and that it would display His faithfulness in even the smallest details of this story.
Our hope and prayer is that Oliver’s life and our adoption story would make much of God. That it would speak of His goodness in the midst of brokenness and hopelessness, and that it would display His faithfulness in even the smallest details of this story.
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Congratulations Kyle and Bri! It was such an honor to walk your family through this process!
Considering adoption? I would love to chat with you more about working with CAC! Email me at Leah@christianadoptionconsultants.com for more information!
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