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Craig & Michelle
In November of 2005 we decided that it was more important to become parents than how we became parents. Our journey begins.
January of 2006 we had a visit from Yaffa. We had our home study done and we were on our way.
We put together our “Dear Birth Mother Letter” along with a portfolio of pictures and began distributing them to everyone we know. Networking is so important. We will never forget the 1st question our attorney, Albert asked us; “Have you been networking?” We answered “Oh yes! We are passing out our Dear Bith Mother Letter to our friends and family” He asked “Did you give one to Lisa?” we asked, “Who’s Lisa” He replied “Lisa is our receptionist. If you didn’t give a copy of your Birth Mom Letter to Lisa then you are not networking very well. You give one to everyone that breathes” We learned a lot that day.
We started our advertising... The Little Nickel? Yup, they actually have an Adoption section in their Classifieds. Not too much action from there though.
It was time to do some research. If we were going to facilitate this adoption on our own, we were going to need to learn more about the process. We hit the books. Surfed the net. We read... and then read some more.
Then we thought about it... Are the kids and young adults today reading classifieds? Are they grabbing the Sunday Times? No! They are on the net. That’s when ParentProfiles.com comes into the picture. We found this GREAT website from a link on ParentProfiles.com. ParentProfiles.com is a resource for hopeful adoptive parents to showcase themselves to birthparents who have made a decision to find a home for their soon to come babies.
The searchable database contains a place for A “Dear Birthmother Letter” Our Favorite Things, A Photo Gallery, A Journal and more. A place for a birth-mom to really get a good idea of what she is looking for in a family to raise her child.
We started our Parent Profile in August of 2006 after a few frustrating months without any calls from other resources we had been trying. Then came an e-mail from an agency in Spokane... “We have preemie Triplets in our care facility. Are you interested? One still in the hospital, the other two are ok, but need a lot of care” TRIPLETS??? Ummm... Well, we got a call. It’s a start.
About a week later came our 1st call from an actual birth mom. “I live in Houston and I am expecting twins” A BOY AND A GIRL! You have got to be kidding. Well, we sent her a portfolio. We spoke on the phone a few times. When we didn’t hear from her again after the 4th or 5th call, we realized that we had some competition out there.
Frustration was setting in again. But we were going to be patient. We knew in our hearts that there was a baby in our future... our near future.
In October we decided to add a feature to our Parent Profile. It was called “Extreme Exposure” The cost was quite a bit more per month, but the payoff was, well... to put it mildly... it was extraordinary! We were getting literally hundreds of “hits” per day on our profile. We were getting e-mails from all over the world with offers of placement. We still wanted to remain patient and try to find a birth mom from the US.
On November 6th we were at a Seahawks game and we checked our adoption e-mail from the cell phone. There it was, an e-mail from the birth mom who would soon change our lives forever. “I’m expecting a boy on Christmas Day. If you are still interested in adopting, maybe we can set up a meet” We knew from that moment that she was the one. We could actually see the sincerity in her words just from her e-mails. The 1st e-mail came on Monday. We met her for lunch on Friday. Not 10 minutes into lunch she said “I pick you” A few tears... nobody ate. More tears.
The weather in the northwest in December of 2006 was atrocious. The Chanukka Eve Storm put the power out for 3 anxious days. What if she calls? How are we going to get a flight? What about traveling on Christmas Eve? $1500 per ticket and we have to fly through Minneapolis to get to Spokane? We need this weather to break so we can get over the pass. Friday, December 19, 2007 the sun came out. The Pass was clear. Let’s go.
We arrived that same Friday night to a few snow flurries and met Birthmom for breakfast the following morning. We took her to the movies, out for dinner, to her doctor appointment, Christmas Dinner, there was even a “Girls night out” Hey, when is that baby going to be here? We really got to know the birth mother of our soon to be son. We went from her saying “I would like you to be in the hospital waiting room” to “I would like you to be in the room with me” The girls night out brought on a false alarm, but the appointment the next day we met the Dr. and he decided that it was time. That baby was ready to come out. We toured the hospital, that night we checked in and the induction began. On Friday night December, 29th 2006 Adam Jacob was born. Wow!!! Miracles do happen... THANK YOU Parent Profiles!