Adoption STAR clients Ashley and Colin reflect on how they shared the news that they were going to become adoptive parents.
Previously, we asked families to share their stories on getting the call that they were chosen. What fun it was reading all of the responses! This time around, we thought we would ask families to share how they shared their exciting news with each other or with family or friends.
It was 4pm on a typical Wednesday afternoon (as they always are) when I got a call from our adoption agency. Our family advocate told me that they had a last minute profiling opportunity where the baby had already been born the day before and they needed to know within the hour if we would like to be considered. I quickly began my stalker-calling of Colin, who was working with a gym full of kindergarten through second graders, so I had to repeatedly call and text in order for him to 1) feel his phone go off and 2) realize that there was an immediate need. I ran through the details of the case with him, and we both quickly agreed that we were fine with moving forward. After notifying the agency, I began my drive home and for some reason I felt like this call was different. Why I wasn’t sure, because I had become very good at just thinking that it would be another “no.” But at 5:15, I received a call back from our agency again. I still wasn’t really feeling anything either way, just a calm as I found a parking lot and put the car in park. Our family advocate then said, “I’m calling because I wanted to tell you that you have been chosen!” I was in complete shock. I believe I asked, “Really?!,” and began to cry. She proceeded to go through the details and information that she needed that night and what we needed for the next day. Still in shock, I cried the whole way home.
Once home, I could not wait to tell Colin! Since he usually gets out of work at 6pm, I knew I had until about 6:30 to try and wait patiently. Running around the house, I tried to figure out how I wanted to tell him. I settled for making a sign and pulling out the Adoption STAR shirt we had from our first match. Then I waited. And waited. At 6:45, he called and said he was just leaving now, the latest he’s ever gotten out (go figure, of all days!). He said I was probably texting him so much because dinner had been ready for a while (to which I replied, “Um, sure…”). I told him to hurry home and then decided I might as well make dinner since he was on his way.
When he walked through the door I couldn’t contain my excitement, and told him that before he did anything else, he had to read this sign. He seemed a little confused but quickly caught on, and I told him we had been chosen!
We tried to eat dinner, and then decided that while we knew all too well how quickly things could change at this point, we wanted to tell our parents and siblings. So we used our dog, Mendon, to tell our news.
This picture was texted to our families. We then had to clarify that we were indeed talking about a BABY and not a puppy!
If you’re an Adoption STAR client and you’d like to submit a piece about how you “shared the news,” we’d welcome your submission! Please forward any potential blog post text and pictures to Adoption STAR Associate Director Michael Hill at [email protected]