Our family building journey has brought us nothing but joy and happiness! Unfortunately, it did not start out that way. We had one son we were certain we wanted more children. After three miscarriages [a genetic incompatibility factor], we decided to discontinue our attempts to conceive another genetic child. We decided to explore adoption as a means for growing our family. We first tried domestic infant adoption, but that lead to additional heartbreak.
We were determined to bring another child into our home – we have so much love to give! One day, I was sitting at my computer, and I decided to type ‘I want to have a baby!’ into the search bar. The Snowflakes Embryo Adoption Program was the first item in the search results list!
Like many people, we had never heard of this option before. What a strange and foreign concept! I called Snowflakes and gathered as much information as possible. The more I learned, the more I knew that this was the answer to our prayers. Full speed ahead! I submitted our application and honestly, I’m not sure my loving husband had actually processed what we were pursuing yet.
We completed our home study and selected a clinic. We waited as patiently as possible for a family to choose us to adopt their remaining embryos. Our first match didn’t work out. It was incredibly disappointing, but we received lots of encouragement from the Snowflakes team. Quite quickly we were selected by another placing family who had four kids through IVF. After the adoption was finalized we had snippets of contact with the family mediated by Nightlight. The family answered some question we had and sent pictures of their whole family.
We had our first embryo transfer. We transferred one embryo and learned we were pregnant. Joy! Happiness! Apprehension. Would the pregnancy stick? It did and the entire pregnancy was incredibly smooth—absolutely perfect. We decided we wanted to reach out to our placing parents and see if they would like to exchange email addresses. This led to us exchanging phone numbers. After texting, talking emailing we established a wonderful, personal relationship between us. We felt blessed and honored they chose us to be able to give one (and someday more) of their embryos a chance at life.
The Christmas after our embryo adopted son was born, both families agreed to meet at a hotel. As the family who gifted us with embryos came into the hotel lobby, I felt an instant connection. I was holding the baby they created; the baby they blessed us with. It is extraordinary to think that before any of us knew each other, or even were born ourselves, God had a plan. God knew this baby and He knew he would be a part of our family.
I hope our journey as ‘extended family’ has only just begun. The joy and happiness we feel now can only continue to grow!
