A True Adoption Story That Will Give You Goosebumps

True Adoption story

By Teresa Branstetter Kimbel

She had come to Phil’s office ( my husband) to place her baby for adoption, but on the day the baby was born she changed her mind. Phil had left the door open with the struggling momma, telling her that if she ever found herself unable to care for the child, she could return her for placement again. Seven months later she walked back through Phil’s door carrying baby, baby’s possessions, and a heavy heart.

Phil calling me. (Tears well in my eyes even now; they did in his then.) Through a cracking voice Phil said

“Guess what I have laying in my lap?” Phil asked. “What?” I replied. He said, “Remember the baby I was going to place seven months ago, well the momma returned with her today and said she couldn’t take care of her anymore. She brought all her possessions in a paper bag, kissed her, handed her to me, and said I could give her to the couple if they still wanted her. She is asleep on my lap. I’ve already called “Sarah.”

I’ve never felt such an influx of emotion in a matter of seconds:… utmost respect for the momma’s courage, yet profound, deep sorrow for what she was giving up; elation for the once-disappointed parents whose forthcoming news would leave them speechless; jubilation for the friends who had grieved at their comrades’ loss, yet now were going to exult in celebration; wonder at the bewilderment of a child now displaced, getting ready to face a new normal. I knew what this day would mean to a network of people–strangers but companions on a difficult day, the result of paths that crossed, parted, and crossed again. A child was born bearing two stories. Depending on the narrative of whose book you would read, they would sound very differently.

A True Adoption Story Ending

When “she” turned twenty-one, of legal age to find out, “she” asked her adoptive mom to tell her the story of the book left unread, and her mom referred her to Phil once again. So one afternoon, Phil found himself looking across the table, at an inquisitive twenty-one-year-old young lady, who started out as a sleeping seven-month-old infant on his lap and he filled in the blanks to the questions she needed to ask.

All of us have a story. Some of us are in chapter one and have no clue how many years we have left. Some of us are on chapter twelve and think the storyline has gone terribly awry. But some of us have lived long enough to know that each chapter has a meaning and is an integral part to leading into the next one that leads to the future.

Whatever chapter you are in I hope you remember that God has a plan for you, even if you don’t see it.