We are excited to host fourteen women this September 21 - 25, 2022! These are their stories in their own words.

Her story:

When I found out that I was pregnant I had just broken up with/escaped from a very manipulative and abusive situation. I knew going into the pregnancy that this baby did NOT deserve to be used and abused like I was. And that he (sperm donor) did not deserve to see how smart, funny and silly she is! That is how I came upon adoption! I knew going into the adoption arena that I wanted to still be a part of her life and watch her grow up, and let her know where she came from and that we (my family and her grandparents) will ALWAYS love her. After some trial and error, her perfect family was brought to my attention through the wonderful people at Greater Hopes Family Services. And now she only lives 4 miles away from me and I get to see her often, and even babysit on overnights and weekends! I am so very lucky that we had those very difficult, yet trust building, conversations because this is honestly the best way this situation could have ended! I still get to be a big part of her life.

Her story:

I am a birth mom who placed my child for adoption because of incest/rape, and it affected how much love I gave to my child and how much time I spent with him. So I had to place him for adoption.

Her story:

I became pregnant during my senior year of high school and realized that although I deeply loved this baby growing inside of me, love didn't buy diapers. I hid my pregnancy basically until graduation. I gave birth on a Tuesday, we left the hospital on Thursday (my son with my adoption advocate and me with a friend), and I moved in for my freshman year of college on Sunday. I've been vocal about the adoption since the moment I hit my college campus. I realized during my journey that birth moms weren't always given grace or kindness from others and also that not many people knew any people of color that had chosen adoption. So I talked about it often, even through the tears and sadness, and eventually joy. I wanted to do my part to reduce the stigma that seems to follow birth moms.

Her story:

I placed my son in March 2016, I was already a mom to 3 at the age of 23. I wanted to give him a better opportunity at life.

Her story:

I am 33 years old and have a 12 year old whom I parent, and a 5 year old who I placed for adoption when he was nearly 6 months old. I planned on parenting both, however I have major depressive disorder and realized fairly quickly that I wouldn't be able to raise another child, or any children for that matter if I didn't get mentally healthy. I wanted my children to be happy and feel loved and safe, my oldest son was 7 years old and has medical issues that made parenting, as a single mom, challenging. Adoption was mentioned to me for my youngest, which I brushed off because I was "his mother" and quite frankly, movies make adoption seem terrible and scary. It weighed on my mind and finally I took the step to check into it. One of the families I was presented with had a lot of similarities that resonated with me and I could tell my son would be loved, and he would get a kind and loving father as well as mother. All the signs were there and I'm happy to say my son is now 5 and he has the best parents I could have hoped for, and I have been able to keep working on myself and my mental health to be the best mother and birth mother that I can be.

Her story:

I was barely 16 years old when I saw those two pink lines confirming my suspensions of being pregnant. Thankfully, I had a supportive family that gave so much grace and love, allowing me to make my own decisions of what I felt was best. Though I loved my baby girl deeply and wanted to be her mom, I wanted to provide her with a different life than what I could offer her at that time. Because I had grown up in a split family, I wanted her to grow up on a solid family foundation. Most importantly though I knew adoption was what the Lord was calling me to do. When I surrendered to His plans for our life, the peace settled in deep and never let go. It's now been 18 years in our open adoption and it still is everything I had hoped it could be, and so much more. It was the best of both worlds for us at that time, she could grow up with the life I hoped she would have and I was able to continue growing up myself, yet still be a part of her life. She's grown into a beautiful young lady inside and out with so many talents, and more secure in her identity because she has both sides of her family. We are blessed to enjoy sleepovers, taking trips, browsing Target aisles, and being creative together. On both the grief-filled days and the joyful days I'm able to be a support in my unique role as her birth mom. Adoption changed my world in so many ways and I'm forever grateful for her adoptive family who invited me into their family, too.

Her story:

I placed my son when I was 19. It was a closed adoption but I was blessed to receive pictures and letters from his parents as he grew. His birth father and I remained together and got married. We had 3 other children. In September of 2013, I received a call from my post-adoption worker about wanting to meet with us. Because our son would have been 18 that year, I became excited that he might have been looking to meet us. When we had our meeting, we were told that our son had passed away 10 months earlier due to an enlarged heart. This started the process of his siblings being followed by a Cardiologist. About 5 years later, our youngest had a cardiac event that put him in the hospital for almost a week. It was determined that he has a form of Cardiomypathy, called Arrythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy, and after looking at our oldest son's autopsy report, this is also what he had. Later it was determined that our other son also has ARVC. We have since joined the research group, Undiagnosed Disease Network, to try and determine which gene mutation caused this. The test for the 13 known gene mutation for ARVC was negative for the boys. Since we started the journey with UDN, it looks like they have discovered a 14th gene mutation that could be added to this test.

Her story:

I found out I was pregnant at 19 and was so scared and felt all alone. The father of the baby did not want to be in a relationship with me or have a baby. Eventually, we both decided to place our son for adoption and picked an amazing couple. We were able to meet them twice before I gave birth. I placed my son for adoption in 1999. The adoption was semi-open and I feel very blessed to have been able to receive letters with pictures and updates. I also had a few visits with my birth son and his parents in the beginning. My birth son reached out to me through Facebook and the message sat in my spam inbox for almost 15 months until I came across it one night in the spring of 2020. I instantly responded and by the following day we were texting back and forth. We reunited that weekend and it was the best feeling ever! I am so proud of the young man that he has become and everything that he has accomplished. I went to nursing school in 2014 and graduated with my ASN in 2016. I have worked on the Mother-Baby Unit at a local hospital for 7 years. I am passionate about caring for moms and babies. I continued my education by receiving my BSN in 2018 and then my MSN in Nursing Education in 2021. I am an advocate for birth moms, specifically providing them with post-placement support. The agency I placed through has been a huge support for me and helped me to start a birth mom support group that I have lead for the past 6 years. I also have continued to educate myself about adoption, especially modern and ethical adoption. As a Nurse Educator I have shared relevant information with my team so that the stigma surrounding adoption is reduced. I also implemented gift bags with a few items for birth moms to take home with them once they have signed paperwork and are discharged, so that they don't leave the hospital with nothing. I always want birth moms to know that they are not alone and that there is support available for them, whenever they want it.

Her story:

I had gotten pregnant when I was 18 years old, and had left a bad situation with the father of my child when I was seven months pregnant and moved to Atlanta. I started looking for a family through another adoption agency, but quickly backed out when I had found out that I wouldn't be able to meet the family until I gave birth. I later gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, and took care of him up until he was about two and a half months old. I was struggling with my mental health, and decided to try Bethany Christian Services, where I eventually placed him with the Elrod family, and we have had an open adoption ever since. It's been a lot of ups and downs, but I am grateful that my son is well taken care of, and that I get to visit with him, as well as receiving updates. They have been a blessing to both of us.

Her story:

I am an adoptee as well as a birth mother. So I had the knowledge of adoption and was blessed to have the parents my birth mother chose. I was 32 when I found out I was pregnant and was struggling with a very toxic relationship and personal struggles as well. So I knew that one of my choices would be adoption, but at the time I thought I was only pregnant with one child. The thoughts crossed my mind to parent, but the biological father had no desire to parent and left me. There was a normal healthy baby, but they also found extra tissue and thought I might have a partial molar pregnany and that my hormones levels were unusually high. So I went to the ER and the doctors also thought it was a partial molar. (Partial molar/molar pregnancy is when the sac has an unusual shape and is full of tissue, but can give off like it is a real pregnancy.) However, the ultrasound technician found 2 heartbeats, and she let me hear and see them. My heart melted and I was instantly in love. I was now scared and sad knowing the decision I had to make. I knew that I could not provide them the life I would want for them. My family, due to the prior struggles I had, told me they wouldn't support my choice to keep them or help me if I did chose to keep them. They suggested adoption, and my sister knew a family who adopted through Life Line Child Services and gave me an adoption caseworker's number. I called and filled out all the paperwork and was looking at families that were interested. At that time, I decided I wanted to parent them myself. I went into pre-term labor, and I ended up having them 2 months early. I had a baby boy and a baby girl. They had to stay in NICU, but were healthy and happy!!! A couple weeks later baby girl came home and I spent the weekend unsure if I had done the right thing. I was still struggling with post-partum and other issues. So I prayed for God to show me signs for what I should do. Well, God showed up in every way and showed me that these babies wouldn’t have the life I wanted for them if I kept them. Financially I can't provide everything they need, emotionally I loved them, but the struggle I experienced over the weekend was intense and I knew what I had to do. I cried as I called Life Line and asked if I could still choose adoption through them and they said yes. That Wednesday I was sent 9 different families and some were the same families from the 1st time I looked. I was just looking at the cover of one couple, when I felt God say "This is the couple that will be perfect for your babies!" I had been praying and hoping to find parents like mine and this couple was just like my parents. So I Zoom called with them that Thursday and told them they were going to be parents. The smiles and the tears shared was beautiful and painful for me, but I knew my twins would get the life and love from this couple!!! They asked when they could meet the twins and I said "Well you'll meet them Saturday and will take them home as well." That was only 2 days away and they were shocked, but so grateful and excited. I didn't show them pictures because I wanted to see their faces when they met the twins and that was a magical moment we all shared. It was painful and beautiful all at once. It was the hardest goodbye I ever have ever had to say, but I knew it was the best decision. The twins just turned 1 and their AP have sent me pictures and updates every month, and I have had 1 visit already and a Zoom call, to see how happy the twins are and the big family they have is worth the sadness I have felt. The 1st year was difficult, but I am confident God lead me to the right decision and family!

Her story:

I’m 35 years old, and I placed my daughter 10 years ago. It is the hardest but best decision I made. I have two children that I raise, a 16 year old boy and 15 year old girl. I’m a single parent who works hard to be able to provide what I can for my children. Life hasn’t been easy, but I have my faith that keeps me going.

Her story:

My name is Sarah and I am a birth mom. There was a period of time where identifying as a birth mom would have made me feel shameful. I placed my son 7.5 years ago. I was 36 when I found out I was pregnant. I was encouraged by my mom and own birth mom to chose abortion, but this did not match my religious beliefs. I pursued adoption for my son and I have no regrets. I saw him for the first time since placement this November and he is so happy and healthy. Through our open adoption I was able to see him grow. I have a beautiful relationship with his mom and dad. I’m thankful for the support from Abiding Love Adoption, as they have helped me work through the grieving process of placement and help me become the bold woman I am today.

Her story:

I got pregnant at 19, a few months after escaping a very mentally abusive relationship. I was in a vulnerable place mentally and barely making any money to provide for a baby. So I chose an open adoption. My daughter's parents are wonderful people and I couldn't have asked for a more wonderful family for her. They took us all in as part of their family and my daughter has everyone in her life that she needs, so she'll never be alone ❤️

Her story:

I have placed three beautiful girls for adoption - one whom is now in Heaven. It was the absolute hardest choice I have ever made in my life. I've been through and seen some heart wrenching pain, from abuse as a child to trafficked as a teenager, and then unplanned pregnancy in adulthood. It felt like I was walking through flames, literal fire. The pain of everything was too real for me to handle. It's taken a long time to heal and finally be okay again, and now I'm at the point where I'm so happy to be able to run back into those flames for those still inside with buckets of water.

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