Why We Exist
At 14, Stephanie discovered she was pregnant …
I was a typical teenager. I was responsible, did excellent in school, had lots of friends and was extremely athletic. But when I stopped dancing, I lost my goals and my friends. My sister’s drug addiction started destroying my family, and my parents put all their energy into helping her. I felt completely lost and all alone.
Then everything changed. I was no longer alone. I was pregnant.
I loved my baby more than words could ever describe. But what was I going to do? Abortion was out of the question, and my parents were clear they definitely would not help raise my child. Sadly, I knew that at 14, I had nothing to give him but love.
I searched the internet and found Adoption Options and got counseling. I read letters and profiles for hours and hours but none of them felt right. None of them. Then I got to the very last letter, and I knew I’d found my adoptive family. Jean and Chris were the ones I wanted to be my baby’s parents.
Jean and Chris struggled for years with infertility. Then they struggled to find a “new-normal” life after their angel Gabriel died in their arms less than two hours after he was born. When they wrote the “Dear Birthmother” letter that Stephanie read, it came from the depths of their hearts, and spoke of love and loss and their longing for a family created through adoption.
Liam was born a few days later, and I placed my precious baby in the arms of someone else. This was the hardest and most painful thing I have ever done. It’s because I loved my son so much that I knew this was the right decision.
After the adoption, I finished high school with my friends. It wasn’t easy because I had grown up so much with what I went through, and because I missed my baby so much. But I visited him lots, and Jean sent me pictures all the time. My family and his family are really close. I know now that in an open adoption you do not lose a child but you gain a family.
I’m in college and working towards my accounting degree now. I still think about Liam every day, but now that he’s older we talk on the phone and text regularly. He’s an amazing kid! And I love watching him play hockey – his total passion!
Knowing Liam and being a part of his life is important to me because it validates that I made the right choice. Watching him grow and flourish gives me strength and makes me so proud to be his birthmother.
– Stephanie
Adoption Options exists for women like Stephanie, couples like Jean and Chris, and children like Liam.