Not many of you know that we had a horrible adoption experience...the kind they make movies about. Our son was placed for adoption at 7 weeks, and we couldn't bring him home until he was 6 1/2 months old. The combination of a reluctant birthfather, an agency I won't even DISCUSS (GRRRR) and a comedy of errors, it took us 5 long, agonizing months to bring him home. Anyway, five years ago today we adopted our most precious gift, and I wanted to share with you all the post I made on the adoption site I was with at the time. Thanks for reading....and thank GOD for our son!
"WHEW! I never thought we'd actually say those words!
I'll try to give you a recap of the last few days events, but first let me tell you what Jason is like. He never cries unless he's hungry, and then it's just this pitiful little uhuhuhuh (translated I'm pitiful and beautiful and you need to FEED me NOW!) or when I'm trying to rock him to sleep (which only takes about 2 minutes) and even when he's tired he wont cry! He smiles all the time, laughs, squeals, plays, is saying ba when he wants his bottle, ma and pa (although not very clearly) but I'm not sure he knows what he means with those yet, although he's looking for something when he says them. He's SO good natured that we are counting our blessings every day. He's trying real hard to crawl, and we figure he will have that down by the end of the week.
We flew into ******* at 11AM Wednesday, and drove to *********** (at the bottom of the state...4 hours away). We were met at the foster home by the foster family and 2 caseworkers from the agency. The only thing I'll say about the agency is that, believe it or not, they had our names mis-spelled on the custody papers! AMAZING! SO glad to be done with them.
I had the whole room in tears. Rebecca, the 11 yr old foster-sister, was holding him. I went up to him and was crying and trying to talk to him and she said "you can hold him" so I picked him up, and the tears just completely broke free. The whole room was quiet, and all I heard were sobs from everyone else. After we held him for a few minutes, they gave us time to read and sign the custody papers, and then we were free to get to know him.
The foster family was wonderful to us. They fed us dinner, gave us all their pictures, and showed us the ropes. We were SO impressed with them. Their kids, especially the daughter, were so attached to him, and we almost felt like we were breaking up a family.
We spent the evening there, and went to the hotel about 10PM, so that they could have their last night alone. Then Thursday we went back, spent about an hour and a half, and left with him. The foster family was crying so hard, and just huddled together, Mark & I were crying for them, and the only one who wasn't crying was Jason.
From there we headed to *******. Jason did well in the car for the first couple hours, but then he had had enough, and wanted to get out of the car seat. After that it was lots of stops to get him out and hold him and comfort him, which we didnt mind a bit! The 4 hour drive took us 7 hours.
Friday we met with our birthmother, Amy. I can't find the words to adequately describe what a wonderful, bittersweet experience it was. She is the sweetest thing, and was so brave. We talked for a long time, let her hold him as much as she wanted to, showed off his crawing attempts and tricks, and then at the end gave her time alone with him to say goodbye. She gave us a beautiful book with the ultrasound pictures, family pictures, birth pictures, his crib label from the hospital, and sort of a narrative of who everyone was and how much they all loved him. She explained that she loved him very much, but couldn't care for him like she felt he deserved, and chose us to be his parents. I'm crying now thinking about it. When she left, we all hugged and cried and Mark and I just stood there holding each other and Jason as she walked to the car. Our hearts just broke for her.
Then it was off to Atlanta. It was a 3 hour ride, and he slept the whole way. We flew out Saturday, and were met at the Milwaukee airport by a Toons & Cole. She took our first arrival pictures, and gave us a ride to our car, and then we were off for home.
We were met at home by both our families and some friends at 4:30, and everyone stayed until 10PM, with other friends popping in during the evening. Jason loved every minute of it, was held by everyone several times over, and melted every heart in the place. His grandparents and uncle are THRILLED! Grandpa had a "Proud to be grandfather to Jason" t-shirt on he had specially made, and the grandmas just couldn't get enough of him! My brother, the amateur photographer, took 4 rolls of film in an hour, and had them developed right away, with 4 sets of prints, so that we have enough for sharing sheets for the birth parents, the foster family, and ourselves.
In church this morning we actually stopped traffic! I had no idea how many people knew what we were going through! I've never seen that happen for a newborn. Everyone agreed he was worth every minute of the wait.
Right now he's sitting on my lap as we type. He's having a blast watching the letters go across the screen, and slapping the table like he's typing too.
For those of you who are still waiting for your children, whether through adoption or treatment, I promise you, the wait and the effort are worth it. All good things are worth waiting for.
Thank you all for all of your love, support, patience and encouragement through these trying times. Without you we would never have had the strength to endure the tough times and look ahead to today.
Mark, Kathy & Jason"
Hunter
Happy Family Day 
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Owen Domestic adoption 9/02 
Alden Domestic adoption 5/07
