[kiwi]

The staff of Adoption.com is comprised of editors, web developers and designers and too often has the opportunity to loose track of why we do what we do.

If Adoption.com has helped you in your adoption journey by providing adoption information or a place for you to be supported in your endeavors, please help remind the staff of the good they have done. Send an email to Admin@adoptionmedia.com with a few lines explaining how Adoption.com has made a difference to you. Pictures are welcome!

Any information and responses will be kept in the office and will not be displayed on any of the adoption.com sites.

Thank you for helping us to bring it all back into perspective!

[kiwi]

Due to an overwhelming response, I have opened the thread.

You are more than welcome to email me still if you do not want your information on the site and pictures are welcome in posts too!

[Big Dreamer]

Hi Kiwi,

I was glad to see your note. Frankly I would love for you to share our story I have been singing praises about Adoption.com since day one!

After 2 years of infertility, 4 failed adoptions and no matches in the 19 months we were with our adoption agency we hit the jackpot when we signed up with Adoption.com

I am not sure if this is a record however…our birth mom found us within 18 hours of us posting our final draft of our Birthmother letter.

The night our birth mom found us we spoke on the phone, during that conversation she asked us to parent her baby. In less than 24 hours of posting we were matched and I must say it is a match made from Heaven. Our darling daughter is 19 months old and we love every minute we spend with her.

Our birth mom is the birth mom of our dreams. We have a very open adoption and I wouldn’t have it any other way. She is an extension of our family.

H was 21, at 17 she had dropped out of school; she worked hard and earned her GED, she often dreamed of being the first in her family to go to college.

As fate would have it she got pregnant and like many birth moms considered the “other” alternative. She was three weeks along when she found our letter, it made all the difference in the world to her.

H said, “ I can’t even consider terminating this pregnancy knowing that there are so many wonderful people out there who have so much love to give. I never knew that so many families wanted to adopt. When I read your letter I knew that your home would be the perfect place for my baby. I often wished that I could have had parents like you and Robert.” needless to say I cried.

Robert and I attended all doctor appointments, when we found out our baby was a girl the three of us named her right there in the Ultrasound room, it is the same name on her birth certificate and we couldn’t be happier. Our daughter’s nickname is Star; she is truly the Star in our lives.

Our relationship with H was so awesome that she was ecstatic when I told her that I wanted to try to nurse our baby. Her response was “When I least expect it you say or do something that just continues to prove to me that I made the right choice by choosing you guys”. I nursed our Star for six months and never used a supplemental device.

H is in college and will graduate in May; we will be there with signs, horns and all the hoop and holler. She is currently the President of the National Honor Society at her college; she is an aid for a Texas Senator, and she works.

She often tells me that she knows in her heart of all hearts that she made the right decision and has never regretted placing Star with us. H says “ I have the best of both worlds, I can pursue my dream and still have a relationship with my daughter without the responsibility”.

I had to ask my husband to pull our birth mother letter off of Adoption.com because we had to turn down so many families.

After being on Adoption.com for three months two other families wanted to place with us (they also found us on Adoption.com ) we were honest with them and told them we were expecting a baby. They both knew that we were matched with H however they wanted to be our “back up” in case she changed her mind.

Little Tyler was born two weeks after Star and was placed with a family in New York. We are still in touch with that birth family. Hannah was born in May her mother chose to parent, she calls us occasionally to see how we are all doing.

I must admit when we first came across Adoption.com we were a bit hesitant to sign up. After 19 months of agency heartache we decided to take a chance. I am here to tell you we are soooooo glad that we did, without Adoption.com we might still be waiting for the child of our dreams. Instead we get to hold her, kiss her and tuck her into her bed every night.

When we are ready to adopt again we will use Adoption.com.

Thanks Adoption.com…by the way what is the record for successful quick matches?

Maria

[polkadotghost]

we adopted our daughter Alex two years ago and it is because of your website that we have such an amazing and wonderful open adoption with her birthmom. I always thought closed adoption was the way to go and the thought of contact scared the life out of me. But this website showed me what a birthmom thinks about and it was a HUGE eye opener. Now we have an extremely open adoption and our daughter is thriving because of it. I'm no longer terrified of her birthmom and welcome her into our lives with open arms. Whenever I was scared or had a problem this website has been invaluable. I can't imagine where we'd be without you! We probably wouldn't have Alex thats for sure!!

Thank you so much!!!

April

[Guspiv]

Wow I can even explain how helpful adoption.com has been. When doing my initial research about adoption I was able to find and link to every resource and have all of my questions answers. The resourced helped my husband and I to arm ourselves with the right questions to ask when meeting with different agencies, and in our education classes we felt we already knew most of what they talked about because of adoption.com and the forums.

Oh the forums! I've been addicted it is so great to be able to communicate with other people going through the journey. People at various different stages of the journey and everything. Everyone is just so great.


Keep up the WONDERFUL work, you are doing a superb job.

[mumofone]

Your adoption stories are beautiful.....

[JulesInColorado]

I already emailed, but I wanted to say that I think that the folks that run this site do a phenominal job! I had been posting on other sites and I found adoption.com, much better as far as usage. Very well organized, love the new design

Because of this site I have been able to connect with and meet people in person in the town I live in, trade stories, share experiences, this ALL would not have been possible without this site - THANK YOU!

Keep up the good work!

Julie

[kiwi]

Thank you all so much for your responses! I am excited to share them with my team mates!

[Juscuz]

Sarah, as a bmom in the 70's not knowing we had some kind of support such as this, find it was Godsent.....it helped me answer those questions, the fears, it has walked me through the experience from the adoptees point of veiw on their adoption, the aparent and how they feel. It has allowed me to become stronger in opening my adoption which had been *secret* to anyone that would listen, and let me know that all my rocky emotional roller coaster feelings were absolutely normal, and that I'm not going crazy afterall . You were there at the initial contact and now you are there to let me express, shout and scream for joy as we met face-to-face. It's a place I call my 2ndhome because it doesn't end there, its a lifetime journey.

Mahalo nui loa - Haunani

[ChristiBender]

As my 40th birthday approached in the summer of 2004 I decided to once again try to find my birthparents. I didn't locate them on Adoption.com, but I did find something almost as valuable.... I found support, encouragement, strength and friends who truly understand the struggle of searching and the trials and obstacles that pop up along the way.

This site is unbelievable. This site has led me to friends I will have for years. And because of much of the encouragement I found here - I now am able to discuss other people's stories with my birthmom.... because through me she found this site too.

God bless you all for providing each of us with this resource.

[kiwi]

Haunani, You are very welcome

Like you and Christi, I know how important it is to have people who know what you're dealing with... like the day I got a letter out of the blue from my birth sister. I tell you what, cats just don't understand reunions! This was the first place I came to work out that spike of emotion

[ChristiBender]

Kiwi.... horses don't either. Thank god sometimes cause they let me babble on and on and on..... so long as they have hay they are GREAT listeners! Gotta love our animals almost as much as we love this forum..... *wink wink*

[LisaCA]

The most important aspect of adoption.com for me has been the forum. Dh and I decided to adopt long ago when we first became engaged, assuming we later decided to have children. Our busy lives, however, postponed any thought of adoption until we were in our late 30s. We eventually were living in the same house (after a 2 year stint living apart for our careers ), and were able to turn in our paperwork. This site was absolutely fabulous as a forum for adoption questions. Everyone was quite welcoming and no question seemed too dumb. Anyway, since we work way too much and have no close friends who have adopted, the boards provided an instant community of friends with the knowledge we needed. It was/is important because I have little access to that mommy network that's in our neighborhood. Basic advice about equipment, baby behavior, etc are answered/responded to promptly and intelligently. And the support aspect has been fabulous. Everyone here knows what it's like to hurry up and wait, to open your lives to seemly everyone, to handle questions about the sudden appearance of your child, etc. Since we told no one that we were adopting including virtually no one in our families (couldn't stand the nagging and questions that would have made the wait seem even longer), this forum was my only source of emotional support, aside from dh and our sw. It continues to be the place i turn to first, and will always have a special place in my heart.

thanks,

LisaCA

[MNelson]

Well, just that our son wouldn't be with us without this place.

Our son's bmom found us through the parent profiles, and the forum members have provided so much information, support, and personal stories that made it possible to make it through this past year. I also have shared many stories and perspectives from the members with our son's bmom (I've tried to encourage her to connect with some of the fabulous folks here, but for now she is not).

[Judilyn]

I use to come here often and I found lots of support and made some wonderful friends. I've been through some sad times and some tough times with my adopted daughter and many individuals here were very supportive.