Like many women, Dana wanted to be a mother. She was married in 1998, and within 6 months she and her husband Wayne were attempting to conceive a child. However, one year later Dana was still not pregnant and she went to her doctor to make sure everything was OK.
After years of struggling through infertility, Dana and Wayne were still trying to become first-time parents when Wayne saw a commercial for Adoption STAR. He was ready to look into adoption as an option, but Dana said at that time she still wanted to concentrate on having a biological child. So in 2004 Dana and Wayne attempted the invitro process. Not only was the process unsuccessful, Dana said the pain and the waiting was a horrible experience.
“I would have gone straight to adoption instead of invitro,” Dana said. “People want to try everything to conceive on their own and have a bio-child, but the depression and the painful shots (from the invitro) weren’t worth it.”
After the unsuccessful invitro process, Dana and Wayne again looked into adoption and came to Adoption STAR. Dana said the toughest part of the adoption process was the waiting, and hoping that every phone call would be the one saying she was going to be a mother.
“In the beginning it was kind of scary, any phone call; it could have been (Adoption STAR),” Dana said. “After a while I just couldn’t get stressed about it, and I just left it up to God. I couldn’t live with the stress every time the phone rang.”
Finally on March 15 the phone call Dana and Wayne had been waiting for came. They were told a baby had been born at 1 am, and were asked if they would be interested in hearing more information on the birth parents.
“The (agency) said they’d call us later that afternoon (with more information about the birth parents),” Dana said. “I started to get worried about it, and than at 3:30 that afternoon, (Adoption STAR) called and said we were chosen. I was crying, and I said ‘oh my God, I can’t believe it!’”
Immediately after getting off of the phone with the adoption agency, Dana called Wayne who was at his parents’ house.
“He said ‘are you telling me what I think you’re going to tell me?’ and I said ‘I think so, we’re going to be parents.’ He was so excited,” Dana said.
Dana and Wayne have an open adoption with their son Jacob’s birth parents, and they are thankful they do. Dana credits the adoption education classes from Adoption STAR for preparing her and Wayne for the open adoption process.
“I always get ‘aren’t you afraid that the birth parents will want the child back?’ But I figure it puts (Jacob’s birth mom’s) at ease to see the people we are, and it puts her at ease that she made a good choice,” Dana said. “People don’t understand that, and I wouldn’t either if I was on the other end.”
Three months after brining Jacob home, Dana, Wayne and Jacob met with his birth mother Brandi. Dana said she didn’t know what to say at the beginning.
“I was speechless, how do you thank someone for doing something so thankless? After awhile we started talking and we brought Jacob in and took pictures,” Dana said. “By the end we were all crying. It was really special, and saying thank you just didn’t feel adequate.”