For Christmas my good friend gave me a copy of this book,
Delivering Hope . It tells the stories of a birth-mom and an adoptive mom. Explaining about each of their feelings, struggles, triumphs and events that led them to their decisions of adoption. This is a fictional story but the author hits a lot of the feelings right on.
It took me a little while to pick up this book and read it because I felt that it would probably hit really close to home. At any rate, I told myself that I owed it to my friend to read it. I decided that I would remove myself from the story and read it just like any other book... for the entertainment. Easier said than done.
I compared myself to the adoptive mom instantly. She had been trying and hoping for 38 months, trying fertility drugs and moving into some IUI treatments. I had her beat . Try 118 months, fertility drugs, 5 IUI's 3 IVF's (2 fresh and 1 frozen). She was also very bitter, defeated and angry at life and I wasn't. Ha! Seriously, I thought she was overboard in her thinking. I handled it way better. Yeah right! I have sat back and thought about it now. I was every bit of those things.
Adoption truly brings hope and has blessed our life so greatly. We know without a shadow of a doubt that little Jenna was meant for Aaron and I. She is our little angel.
The book also told about the birth-mom and wrote about all her feelings. From how she loved her baby so deeply and so desperately wanted to keep her. From how she was going to parent the baby to realizing that Heavenly Father had plans for her baby and that maybe keeping her was not the best option. From the judgements and suggestions of friends, family and ward members to her pure selfless sacrifice. From how hard that sacrifice was to the healing influence of the Savior through his atonement. I cannot put myself in our birth-families shoes
but I think the author has done a great job in describing that aspect
as well. I came away with a deeper love for our birth-families.
I will always admire Jenna's birth-mom for her selfless sacrifice, her unconditional love for Jenna and for us, for her strength to place Jenna in our arms and for her trust in us to be Jenna's parents.
We are also extremely grateful for the love and sacrifice of Jenna's birth-father and his family.
Jenna is truly loved by so many. She is in their hearts, prayers and beings. When we adopted Jenna, we not only adopted her (as if that's not enough - a wonderful, heaven sent angel) we adopted her birth-family as well. We love them all.
My most favorite sentence in the book is found in the acknowledgements, it says,
"I think the best places in heaven are reserved for birth parents."
I wholeheartedly agree!
