Open Adoption Stories
Videos About Lifetime Adoption Stories
Roger and Tricia - Transracial Adoption Experience and Webinar
Roger and Tricia were blessed to adopt a baby girl through Lifetime Adoption in 2009. Since then, they have faithfully sent us adorable and heartfelt photos and updates.
After finalizing the domestic infant adoption of their baby girl, Roger and Tricia emailed their Adoption Coordinator Veronica, “It is with deepest pride and the greatest joy that we let you know that Katie’s adoption has been finalized! We finalized in the judge’s chambers accompanied by our family and friends.
It’s been exactly one year and one day from the first phone call from you, Veronica, saying, ‘You have a birth mother interested in you’ to finalization. Praise God! We are grateful for each of you and the part you have played in our journey to our forever family. Katie is a constant source of joy to use and everyone she meets and is the love of our lives. Thank you for all of the love, support, and prayers. We are so blessed to have you in ours and Katie’s lives!”
When Roger and Tricia provided a review of Lifetime Adoption, they shared, “Our experience with Lifetime was a straight path that led us to the daughter that was meant to be ours.
Lifetime was a ‘breath of fresh air’ compared to the other avenues of adoption we had tried. Lifetime was there every step of the way to answer questions, provide support and pray for us which led us to the match with our daughter’s birth mom. We will be eternally grateful for everything the staff provided for us that ultimately led to our forever family
We love having an open adoption where our daughter knows that her birth mom loved her and picked us to be her parents. She loves to share stories of her adoption with others and participate in the traditions we have created surrounding her adoption.
We will be eternally grateful for all of the love, care and prayer that you put into every little detail of our profile and adoption match. We appreciate everything you and the rest of the Lifetime staff has done for our family and we pray often for each of you, the adoptive families and especially the birth moms!”
Tricia appeared as a special guest on Lifetime’s webinar, Panel of Adoptive Moms on Transracial Adoption. In the webinar, Tricia shared how adoptive parents can effectively raise a child to embrace their adoption story. If you’ve been considering adopting a child of a race other than your own, this webinar with adoptive moms will be a great resource. The experience and tips that the adoptive parents gave in this webinar are sure to touch the hearts of anyone hoping to adopt.
“We pray for everyone at Lifetime often! I have enjoyed sharing our story in the Lifetime webinar, answering questions and providing adoption support for new Lifetime families who are just beginning their journey!” says Tricia.
Listen in to this special webinar on transracial adoption here! 
Jesse & Alicia - Infertility to Adoption
Jesse and Alicia shared with Lifetime that they’d faced several failed fertility treatments, and “After giving adoption a lot of thought, we feel that it will be better…Not only with it fulfill our hopes of becoming parents, it will help a child who needs unconditional love and a forever home.”
In their adoption profile for birth mothers to learn more about them, Jesse and Alicia wrote, “Hi there, we’re from Colorado! We are excited to become first time parents through adoption. We are a fun, active couple who enjoy sports, traveling and spending time with family. As parents, we look forward to providing your child with unconditional love in a safe, healthy, and stable environment. We will be open and honest with your child as they grow up and they will always know how special they are to us and our family. We are committed to maintaining contact at the level you feel comfortable and would love to share photos, letters, and annual visits if you’d like. Thank you for taking the time to get to know us!”
Through infant adoption, Jesse and Alicia were blessed to adopt a baby girl, Brynlee, just a few weeks ago!
Thrilled new adoptive mother, Alicia, emailed us:
“This all feels like a dream! We are so in love with baby Brynlee. We can’t take our eyes off of her! She is perfect in every way, God truly had His hand in every part of our adoption journey. We’re grateful for all the time we were able to spend with Brynlee’s birth mom at the hospital. We will cherish those moments and share them with Brynlee as she grows up.
We’re so thankful to have found Lifetime. You all have been there every step of the way. I remember when we had our first call with Jen. We were nervous and unsure of what to expect, but she was so sweet and answered every question (I had a huge list) and by the end of the call Jesse and I knew instantly knew that Lifetime would help us become a family of three. Struggling with infertility for so long leaves you vulnerable and it is difficult to imagine that you may never become a parent. God led us to Lifetime because He knew this perfect little girl would be waiting for us and that everyone at Lifetime would be here every step of the way! Every phone call, every webinar, and every prayer helped us become stronger and prepared us for parenthood.
As I am sitting here, holding our daughter in my arms and typing through my happy tears, I just couldn’t wait to share our thanks and gratitude to everyone at Lifetime. Thank you all so much! We can’t wait to share pictures and updates with you as she grows!”
Brent & Latonia - 2nd Lifetime Adoption!
Brent and Latonia from West Virginia and they have been blessed twice through adoption: they adopted their daughter Georgia through Lifetime in 2012, and recently welcomed a baby boy, Judah!
As they started their second adoption journey with us, they shared, “We’ve already been blessed once through adoption (with Lifetime!), welcoming our daughter to our family of three in 2012. We don’t feel our family is quite yet complete and strongly believe God is calling us to adopt again. We are already so blessed with two great kids and want to be a loving option for a birth mom.”
In
their profile for this recent adoption, Brent and Latonia wrote, “We are a happily married Christian couple excited to become parents again! We strongly believe in the importance of a great education and will provide many opportunities for your child to learn, be active, explore their interests and discover new things! Our faith in Christ, honest communication, and mutual respect are the foundation of our relationship. We still celebrate the day we met, spending each anniversary where we had our first date.
Although we were initially told we couldn’t have biological children, two years after marrying, we were blessed with our son, Elijah. Still, we both felt called to adopt, and when Elijah was two years old, we adopted our daughter, Georgia. We would love more children, and while we’re unable to have more biologically, even if we could, we would choose adoption.”
Through Lifetime, Brent and Latonia recently welcomed a baby boy, Judah, into their home just a few months ago!
The happy adoptive couple emailed us: “We sing the praises of Lifetime and the support we received and regularly recommend you to anyone who expresses an interest in adopting! Just this morning, we recommended Lifetime to an adoption support group we’re a part of on Facebook. As I was writing about your support for birth moms and adoptive families alike, I found myself hoping a member of the Lifetime family would read the impact you’ve had on our lives!
There’s no greater indicator of an exceptional experience than a repeat client and we are so thankful we returned for our second adoption with Lifetime. We also can’t overstate our joy of not only bringing sweet Judah home but also our growing relationship with his lovely birth family. Elijah and Georgia are enjoying their little brother so much! Their only conflict is who gets to hold or feed him next!”
Brent and Latonia appeared in one of Lifetime’s adoption webinars and shared their unique perspective on adoption as a transracial family. In this webinar, you’ll learn how they came to adoption, the varying insights they have as a mom and dad through adoption, and how open adoption looks in their lives.
To watch this touching webinar over at AdoptionWebinar.com, please subscribe. It’s simple and free! Subscribe using this link, which will grant you access to lots of information-packed webinar recordings and keep you in the loop about upcoming LIVE webinars.
Justin & Jen - Would We Feel Connected?
We’re honored to be sharing Justin and Jen’s beautiful domestic adoption story.
“We’re shocked at how short our wait was in the grand scheme of things! Because of Justin’s blindness, we had prepared ourselves to wait for more than two years. We knew that some birth mothers might be hesitant to place with someone who had a ‘disability.’
But we did our best through our web page, adoption video, and profile book to help them see what an amazing man Justin is, and what a wonderful father he would be. God did such a work because Harper came into our lives just under a year after we signed up with Lifetime! When I got the call from Linda that there was a child for us, it took everything I had not to begin sobbing on the phone! I knew we were going to have a lot to do in a short amount of time, and I couldn’t let myself break down. Like a whirlwind, we were on a plane headed to the birth mother’s state within a few hours of getting the call. Of course, a major snow storm hit the area that we were traveling to! So I had to drive in whiteout conditions from the airport to the hospital, which was about a two hour drive…”
Here’s a quick video of Jen telling Justin the exciting news!
“I know that we would not have made it to the hospital if the Holy Spirit hadn’t given me peace and kept me calm, and I’m sure there were angels all around that rental car! When we got to the hospital, I drove the car into a ditch thinking I was pulling into a driveway! But thank God we were right outside the hospital and were able to leave the car there and head inside to meet our precious baby girl!
We met Harper when she was 28 hours old. I didn’t know what to expect. Would I feel like just a caregiver? Would I feel connected to her right away? Would she connect with me? But the minute they wheeled in her bassinet and I looked into her face, all my fears melted away and I knew I was her mother and she was my girl.
I’ve always heard about this intense love that parents have for their children. But you never really understand it until you’ve experienced it. That night, exhausted and overwhelmed with how much life had changed in an instant, I looked into her eyes and I knew I would do anything, even give my life, to protect this child and give her the best life possible. I have never felt so much love for another person as I felt in that moment, and still feel, for this precious girl. And I know that Justin feels the same.
We are so thankful that God lead us to Lifetime. Everyone there, especially Linda and the staff, have been amazing, helpful, and supportive. Thank you!”
We’d love to help you create your own beautiful adoption story!
Call Lifetime Adoption at 1-800-923-6784 to learn how to get started, and fill out our free online application to adopt.
Lori - 2 Lifetime Adoptions
Hi, my name is Lori and I am the proud mom of two beautiful, healthy, fun-loving boys. For my husband and I, the fertility journey was a roller coaster ride, but in comparison, adopting through Lifetime Adoption was a breeze!
We really knew that our goal was to become parents and being pregnant no longer played an important role. We just wanted our own family to love, nurture and adore and we knew adoption was a “sure thing.” Now we have it all!
Before finding Lifetime Adoption, we searched through countless agencies and facilitators. When we came across Lifetime Adoption, we researched every inch of their adoption program and we knew we found the people we wanted to work for us.
We knew this wonderful staff was prepared, experienced and dedicated in helping us make our dream come true.
Our first adoption was quick and we were matched in 7 1/2 months and became parents to a healthy newborn baby boy. We brought him home from the hospital, met the birth family and have a long distance, loving and respectful relationship with them.
Our second adoption was just as quick. Seven months and 10 days is all we waited before going to the hospital again and bringing home another beautiful baby boy. We met the birthparents and shared a few days with them before returning home. This relationship is more private in respect to the birthparents’ wishes.
Will there be a third adoption for us? It’s a dream that I have often and haven’t closed the door on yet. I know for us that Lifetime Adoption will be the only people that I will trust with again in such an important decision.
Greg & Bethany - 5 Months Until Baby's Due Date
As they began their adoption journey with Lifetime, Greg and Bethany shared, “We started talking about adopting when we were dating and knew it was a way we wanted to grow our family! Bethany’s family is already touched by adoption thorough three of her siblings.
We love being parents and are excited and ready to adopt a boy or girl of any race!”
Greg and Bethany joyfully welcomed a baby boy, Gus, into their home through a Lifetime adoption! We feel blessed to be able to share their story here. Adoptive mother, Bethany tells us, “When Veronica called me that a birth mother had chosen us, Greg was out of the state. I was so excited, and I couldn’t wait to call him with the good news! Our first phone call with our son’s birth mom went very well, and we immediately knew it was a match on both ends.
Waiting five months until her due date was so hard and there were a lot of ups and downs, times we weren’t sure she was going to follow through with adoption. Trusting in God and praying constantly was the only thing that got us through. We booked our flight to her state and kept praying the whole time that everything would go smoothly.
We had a few layovers and planned to arrive the night before our son was born. Unexpectedly, a C-section was scheduled, and two hours from the hospital we got a text saying Gregory Anthony III (Gus) had been born! We couldn’t stop smiling and crying happy tears seeing his picture!
The hour drive from the airport to the hospital seemed like an eternity. It was dark, and we weren’t even sure how to get into the hospital and where to go. After talking to a few nurses and finding the maternity ward, Gus’s birth grandmother was there waiting for us to take us back to meet him. When we walked into the room, Gus’s birth mom was there holding him. She handed him to us right away and my heart just melted. He was perfect! Meeting both of them and staying in the hospital for three days was such gift. We were able to talk and bond like I didn’t even know was possible. We have such love and gratefulness for our birth mother!
We stayed in the birth mother’s state for exactly two weeks waiting for ICPC. It ended up being a wonderful time for us to bond as a family and we even were able to visit several times with all the ladies at Lifetime! It was wonderful to be able to put a face to everyone we had talked to during our wait.
We have a wonderful, positive open adoption relationship with Gus’ birth mother and birth grandmother. We send pictures monthly, and text/write on a weekly basis. We know God had His hand all over this adoption and knew Gus was meant for our family. We cannot wait to tell Gus his story when he is older. We are honored that his birth mother chose us and entrusted us with such a precious gift\
We are so thankful to Lifetime for their endless phone conversations with us, encouraging us through the wait. The years of waiting and experiencing a miscarriage were not easy, but if not for our faith in God we would not have gotten through. We know now God used that wait time to draw us closer to Him, to work on ourselves spiritually and physically, to prepare us for our life now.
Listening to webinars was so encouraging, knowing it will one day happen to us… and here we are on the other side, sharing OUR story. We didn’t think it was possible at times, but God is good and faithful!”
We’d love to help you create your own beautiful adoption story!
Call Lifetime Adoption at 1-800-923-6784 to learn how to get started, and fill out our free online application to adopt.
Colby & Sarah - A Long Wait
With Colby and Sarah’s adoption story, we’re privileged to hear the adoptive father’s side too! (Usually, we hear from the adoptive moms more!) Colby says
“If you’ve found yourself in the position we were in, you’ve no doubt heard every cliché in the book: Keep the faith, this will work out exactly how it was supposed to, God has a plan for you and your family. Whichever child you’re ultimately matched with is going to be the perfect child for you and your family.
We spent three years hearing those things. And it’s natural to despair at times. We had deep, long talks about it all the time. About why people didn’t like us. About what we lacked as potential parents. About why it took us so long while we knew other people didn’t have to struggle like we did to get matched.
Once you’re matched and you meet your child, it still takes you a little while to process all the things that had to fall into place to make this miracle happen. You had to choose adoption; you had to join up with Lifetime; birth mom had to pick you; then she had to follow through with the paperwork that’s required for private adoption.
And whether you get the call six months or six hours ahead of the match, you’ll never be prepared enough. And that’s okay.
Because all of it—the wait, the worry, the late nights sitting up wondering if your family will ever be whole—will be worth it.
I know this because of the thousand little moments that are ingrained in my memory forever because of this journey.
I’ll never forget the call I got from my wife when we initially got matched. And I know you’re probably worried about your profile and your book and your video, but trust me: the most random thing is going to become the big selling point to your birth mom; ours was happy we had good insurance and dogs. About time those things started earning their keep (the dogs, not the insurance!)
I’ll never forget panicked texts, phone calls and emails I got from work when my wife couldn’t find me to tell me our birth mom was in labor (I was at lunch; it was a humorous moment in hindsight).
I’ll never, ever forget driving all night to meet my wife, who had flown ahead to be with our son, and cradling him in my arms for the first time at 4:30 in the morning. I’ve never been happier at that time in the morning.
Those moments make every single struggle you’ve had to endure on this journey disappear in a blink. I promise.
I promise that you’ll look into your child’s eyes as you’re feeding them one night, or hear them say, ‘I love you’ for the first time and this is all going to make sense.
Right now, as I write this, he’s sleeping on my chest. It’s the most perfect moment I’ve had since the last perfect moment. And that’s all I ever wanted.”
Such sweet, heartfelt, and powerful words! His wife Sarah shares:
“Hearing other families that were successful was one of the most encouraging parts of the wait! We hope our story can be a little inspiration to others waiting, as I know as little as a two months ago we were in that place too! It helps knowing you aren’t alone! We hope our story can bring some comfort to others waiting a longer than expected time!
I appreciate Lifetime’s patience with us over the last few years! I know it was hard when there was no updates and we kept asking! Colby is always so good at putting things into words.
We could not be any happier with our sweet baby boy! If insurance and dogs got us our son, I will hug the dogs extra hard tonight lol. This picture cracks me up when I think about that statement from our son’s birth mother!”
(Here’s a recent photo of Colby, their two dogs, and their son!)
Let Lifetime help you embark upon your own journey of infant adoption!
Call Lifetime Adoption at 1-800-923-6784 to learn about the first steps, and fill out our free online application to adopt.
Alan & Rebecca - Webinar on Coping With Adoption Wait
Alan and Rebekah have been blessed twice through adoption: they adopted their son Eli through Lifetime in 2013, and just brought home baby boy Oliver!
As they started their second adoption journey with Lifetime, they shared, “We are SO excited about starting the adoption process for baby #2!! We adopted our precious baby Eli through Lifetime years ago and we are all ready for another baby and a sibling for Eli to grow with and love on!”
Read about their journey to adoption, their cherished experiences and inspirations!
A bilingual couple, Alan and Rebekah wrote their adoption profile for birth mothers to learn more about them in both English and Spanish! They shared, “We’re excited about adopting another precious baby! We are a fun-loving family who is passionate about living life to the fullest and enjoying all God has given us. We love to explore new places, discover new things and taste new foods… but the BEST part about life is that we get to be parents!
Together we enjoy playing, laughing, eating, walks to the park, time with family and friends, visiting new places, working in the yard, working on our home, playing games, watching movies, and serving in the ministry. Our son, Eli, is a joy in our life and we were thrilled to adopt him at birth. Daily life in our family is cooking together, going on adventures, exploring the outdoors, and laughing till our tummies hurt. We love discovering new places and making happy memories!”
Through infant adoption, Alan and Rebekah were blessed to adopt a baby boy, Eli, in 2013. Then, just a month ago, they adopted another baby boy, Oliver!
After their first adoption, they emailed us:
“We are SO blessed! We have been praying for Eli’s birth mother every day. At the hospital, we did let her know that if she ever wanted to open up communication to more than annually, that we would be more than happy to give her updates/photos more often or whenever she requested.
God had His hand in our adoption every step of the way, and Lifetime was wonderful (and will be for our next adoption!) Our journey has been such a blessing, and as we continue to stay in contact with our birthmom, we appreciate more and more what an amazing gift she gave to us in little Eli!
Then, just last week, they emailed their Adoption Coordinator at Lifetime:
“We are hoping to finalize Oliver’s adoption within the next several days. Here’s a sweet photo of Oliver with his proud big brother Eli. Thank you so much for everything y’all have done! Praise the Lord for His indescribable gift!”
In one of our adoption webinars, Alan and Rebekah shared about waiting for just the right match with a birth mother. They share tips on how you can have a healthy, positive perspective on open adoption.
Tune in and discover how you can cope with your adoption wait. You can watch this webinar, “Alan & Rebekah’s Story,” at AdoptionWebinar.com
The Evolution of Open Adoption
Many people believe that adoptions still happen the way they did decades ago when closed adoption was the norm.
Back then, the birth mother wasn’t involved in the adoption process. Adoption agencies decided which adoptive parents should adopt which baby, and the birth mother had no idea where her baby went. Additionally, the adoptive parents did not receive any information about their child’s medical history.
However, adoption has evolved over the years, and now most private or independent adoptions are open adoptions. In fact, only 5% of infant adoptions are closed, according to a survey of 100 private adoption agencies.
What does this mean for you as hopeful adoptive parents? You will likely have an open adoption with your child’s birth mother. In open adoption, the birth parents and adoptive family get to know each other and stay in contact after placement.
Most birth mothers today desire an open adoption because they need to know how their child is doing. In addition, keeping in touch with the adoptive family can provide reassurance that the birth mother made the right decision in choosing to place her baby for adoption.
Whether you’re thinking about adoption for your baby or child, taking that first step can be hard. Every year, Lifetime Adoption provides confidential help to hundreds of women from all backgrounds and situations. Call or text Lifetime Adoption at 1-800-923-6784 whenever you’re ready to learn more about adoption.
What Open Adoption Can Look Like For You
No two open adoption stories are alike; there are varying degrees of contact in an open adoption arrangement. Open adoption can look like emails sent through your adoption professional to the birth parents, or it may look like in-person visits once a year.
The amount and method of contact in an open adoption is a personal decision made together by the adoptive family and the birth parents. Lifetime is there to support and help these open adoption stories along the way.
Some are wary of open adoption because they believe it means co-parenting or the birth mother can show up anytime to reclaim her child. Lifetime recommends researching open adoption. Also, share your concerns with your adoption professional, who can answer questions you have and explain the details about open adoption.
Why Does Lifetime Believe in Open Adoption?
Lifetime has witnessed so many beautiful open adoption stories and birth mother relationships. Open adoption normalizes a child’s adoption. It brings the child together with people who love them most, their birth parents and adoptive parents.
Research has shown that children in open adoptions benefit from a stronger sense of self, enveloped by the love of both their adoptive parents and birth parents. The adoptive parents benefit, too, as they receive crucial genetic information and health history about their child. As one birth mother says, “Knowing my daughter’s family health history could mean the difference between life and death. For example, my daughter will need to know that her dad’s side of the family has a history of high blood pressure.”
Lifetime Adoption has helped create many miracles through the blessing of open adoption. Our staff loves to share these heartwarming open adoption stories with others so that they might also recognize the beauty of this type of adoption.
We’d love to help you create your own beautiful open adoption story! To learn how to get started on the path to adoption, call Lifetime Adoption at 727-493-0933. If you’re ready today, then fill out our free online application to adopt.
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Copyright © | Lifetime Adoption
Lifetime Adoption, Inc. is a Licensed Child Placing Agency in both Florida and Arkansas. (License FL#100084254 AR#00050809)
Copyright © | Lifetime Adoption