January 2018

          As a young woman, my faith was strong. I was a Eucharistic Minister, attended World Youth Day in Canada, and was a member of my high school Pro-Life Club to name a few examples.  While my faith has gone through its peaks and valleys, my feelings about abortion have never wavered.   I have always felt so strongly about saving those tiny souls, that it brought me to the next step.  I told myself to truly be Pro Life, I must do more than just use my words or pray in front of an abortion facility; I need to actually save a life, and from that, my decision to adopt was made.  It was such a strong calling from my heart, that when my husband proposed, it was one of the first conversations to follow my “Yes!”  I am fortunate that the man the Lord had chosen for me, also grew to share my desire to adopt in his heart. We then made the decision to adopt once we had given birth to a biological child.   
          When the time came to grow our family, it became apparent that I would struggle with fertility.  This caused doubt in my heart and put a strain on my faith, but I remembered the love that God had for me.  After some time and a substantial amount of money had been spent, we made the decision to adjust our sails and put our efforts toward something we always intended to do, adopt.  I have often been the type of person with good intentions, “it would be really nice to do that,” but never actually take the steps. I believe in my heart, that God placed this struggle of fertility on me to ensure I followed through with this.  I’d like to say whole-heartedly that nothing would have stopped me; the invasiveness, the cost, but who knows if I would have justified all that with existing children?  God placed me in a situation to do what I had always dreamed--save a child!  
          Starting the adoption process was terrifying. I spoke with a number of mothers that had gone down that path, but got little comfort due to there being so many different routes to take.  Once we decided what worked best for us, we began our home study.  We were blessed with the kindest social worker; she held our hand throughout this scary and invasive process and she led us to a young woman who needed a family for her unborn son.  The Lord made our situation even more significant when we were informed that our son’s biological mother had attempted to have an abortion, but was too far along in her pregnancy.  This was truly my calling, my son.  The day he was born, I finally experienced a love I’d longed for, a love I had never felt before.  I was fortunate enough to witness his birth and be the first arms to hold him, a luxury not all adoptive mothers have.  After three very long days, it was official; he was ours!  We do not know God’s plan for us, but we constantly work to keep faith in His love for us and our growing family.  My husband and I look forward to a trip to Rome in February to pray at the statue of Mary in the Basilica of St. Augustine.  As our family reflects on scripture, particularly during this month when so many Catholics “March for Life,” we look at our son and thank God for the strength to adopt; we could not have done this without His love.  Not a day goes by that we don’t thank Him for blessing us with the most wonderful son we could have imagined.
          To my fellow parishioners, please take from this letter, my willingness to comfort and share my knowledge of fertility and adoption with any family beginning a similar journey or contemplating doing so.