Day 8: Adoptive Parents
After giving some basic guidelines for preference (ie race, religion, number of kids at home) I was given some files of families to make a selection from. I don't recall a whole lot of details from that time, but I do remember that it took me a couple weeks to scour through the files and consider each detail about the people whose lives I was peaking into and trying to imagine handing my child over to. It struck me hard to know that I held in my hand all these families that were equally as hopeful for a child to come to their family. My choice would make a major difference in the life of my child AND whatever family I chose. I always felt good about my final choice. When I met I them I realized that she and I looked like we could be sisters and they were both so kind and so grateful.
Since my adoption was closed I knew very few details about the personal experience of the parents I chose. I only ever knew what I felt and experienced on the day of her placement. I wasn't ever able to hear THEIR story until being reunited. Since having heard that story I have gained a new appreciation for the joy they were experiencing on what was one of the most painful days of my life. I learned that our pain was equal. I had lost a child by my own choice, but her struggle with infertility was never something she had chosen and on that day she gained the realization of a life long dream. I'm so grateful for the example of strength and love that they are to me and for being in the right place at the right time.
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