Tell me a little bit of your family’s story of adopting your two sons.

Good Shepherd facilitated two adoptions for our family. The first came several months after we finished submitting all our adoption paperwork to our Good Shepherd adoption specialist. 

For our oldest child, we were considered and connected with our child’s birth mother through a friend connection. His birth mother felt really connected to me and his birth father was connected to my husband. The couple met with another [possible adoptive] couple but knew we were the right family immediately. They called us [the first night we met] to let us know and we met our baby boy the next day—when I held that tiny baby in my arms and fed him the first time I felt so… at home. We took him home the next day—with our brand new car seat and bag of baby supplies. 

With our second child, we were beginning the home study update paperwork again with our Good Shepherd adoption specialist when a mother showed interest in making an adoption plan for her baby. We quickly got our adoption book ready in two days so it could be among the mother’s choices. She was interested in a Catholic family because of her boyfriend being Catholic, and how her boyfriend had treated her – [he truly cared for and respected her and had brought her to church with him]—it was also the first time she had been to a church where she felt at home, accepted, and included. After having chosen us from our [profile] book—she knew we were the right fit. 

When we met her for the first time, she already had chosen us. I was so nervous – seeing as she was 5 months pregnant; I worried about the amount of time she would have to change her mind. She was so confident in her choice and my husband felt at peace. As we got closer to our son’s birth, I took his birth mom to several appointments. We were also invited to be with her for the 17 hour birth – my husband cut the umbilical cord, and I trimmed it once we were checking his vitals and making his foot prints. Both my husband and I had skin on skin bonding time right after our son’s birth. I stayed at the hospital in a room next to his birth mom.

For three nights, I got to know the little guy on my own before we brought him home to his big brother, daddy, and family dog. 

Tell me a little bit about how the adoption specialist and the expectant parent worker worked with you as adoptive parents and with the birth parents in your story.

When meeting our oldest child’s parents, two social workers from Good Shepherd came—one to support his birth parents and one to support us. They helped to make the process go smoothly and to act as a go-between. They let us each know about the process, the rights of birth and adoptive parents, next steps, and how to navigate communication. Good Shepherd also hosted all of us once our son was several months old so his birth parents could spend an hour with him. I was so nervous about this but am so happy we did it. It helped them see us as parents, let them spend time with our son, and see how caring for an infant, though rewarding, is challenging. 

With our second son, Good Shepherd social workers performed the same role as our first son and coordinated their efforts. The expectant/birth parent worker had a great new energy in educating expectant/birth parents about openness in adoption today. 

Good Shepherd has a passionate team of expectant/birth and adoptive parent workers to support clients and meet each client where they are at in the adoption process.