“And then we met her – this gorgeous strawberry blond young lady with the most beautiful green eyes looking at us from across the table. She had one question for us. Our knees were shaking just getting the news. We were not convinced it would be ‘wonderful’ at all. We were intimidated and scared.”
‘Wow, that’s so cool I have 2 moms! May I have a snack?,’ was his reaction at age 5. ‘Aren’t you worried they’ll take the boys back?’ We are not a bit worried. We told him he grew up in her tummy.’
‘They looked us in the eyes. ‘We will never let this baby go if he’s blood. But if he isn’t, you can have him.’ Tears fell down my face. ‘We don’t care whose ‘blood’ he is. We’re ready to love him.’
“As we entered her room, I could feel something was off. There was a knock at the door. In walked the father. I could sense fear. It was clear he had some kind of hold on her. The dad said he wanted to make sure the baby wasn’t his, before he let her ‘sign him away.’ My world was crashing down again.”
‘My birthmother went into labor. Her secret would soon be out. Lying on the floor, she called her sister in pain. ‘What’s wrong?,’ she frantically asked. ‘My baby is coming. I need the hospital.’
“My birthmother graduated 5 months pregnant, lived at home with her parents and even shared a room with her older sister. But still, no one knew about about me. She hid her growing bump. Her parents were on a trip when the drama began. ‘I can’t keep her. She’s not mine.’ she told the nurse.”
‘My mother traded my sister for a shotgun and pickup truck. I didn’t see her again for 35 years. One day, I got the clever idea to place an ad in the local newspaper. In 1 month, I got THE call.’
“We met at a run-down cafe and I asked all the questions that burned inside me. I was sitting directly across from her. This time, she couldn’t ignore me. I secretly hoped my suspicions were wrong, but the realistic side of me always said, ‘April, why else would she have stayed away?'”
‘Today, I failed miserably as a mom. There was yelling, crying. My broken mom heart gave up. I worried I couldn’t turn the day around or pick up where we left off. Then, I tried something.’
“I fled. We fled. I had to turn and walk away before verbally wounding the child that just wounded me. I packed up the kids and bonus child. I could feel my heart rate calming as we came to the top. The day ended so much more peaceful than it began.”
‘Stop saying adoption rocks. It doesn’t. And there’s a side to it no one wants to talk about.’
“The part where I cried when I couldn’t have children and the doctor told me to ‘man up’ because ‘the world population is too big anyway so just get a dog.’ The part where, despite my best efforts to love my child, she still says, ‘I want my other momma.'”
‘My birth control failed. I wasn’t ready to be a mother. 40 years later, I crashed into a man at the supermarket. ‘Do I know you?’ My heart dropped.’
“He extended his arm, smiling. ‘Nice to meet you. I’m Timothy.’ It was a split-second interaction, but one I’ll never forget. ‘This going to sound weird, but I feel like I know you. Were you adopted?'”
‘I was 13 hours away with $1.32 in my account. Tears in my eyes, I gently opened the door. There was a look of shock on her face. ‘How did you get here?!’
“I wrote, ‘My mom is dying in hospice care and I feel guilty every day I’m not there sitting by her side.’ I awoke to something so unexpected. ‘Alex! Oh my god, Alex!’”
‘I tiptoed into my daughter’s room to play tooth fairy. I saw a note from her big sister. ‘Why do fairy’s not show themselves? Could you please take a selfie? My iPad is in the room. Swipe right!’
“She hijacked our little one’s fairy visit, asking for proof. I couldn’t stop laughing. My husband and I talked about me putting on a wig, wings, and adding a bright light behind me to actually take a selfie, but that just made the lie even worse. I went with a letter because a note from Tabitha the Tooth Fairy totally isn’t lying.”
‘I was taken from school to my last foster home. I didn’t get to say goodbye to anyone. I didn’t know I would NEVER go home again. My parents had run out of chances.’
“I remember the car. The social workers wore suits, and the car was dark blue. I sat in the back. The child lock was on, and I felt trapped. When we arrived at the foster home, it was a place I had been in with my sister, but I still didn’t understand. This time, it was only me.”
