Rebecca’s Adoption Story
When you’re pregnant and thinking about your choices, it can help to hear from someone who’s been “in your shoes.” Here’s one woman’s story about how she decided adoption was the best course of action for her situation…
“I was 18 years old when I found out I was pregnant…the week before I was supposed to start college on a full-ride scholarship for volleyball. I’d just kicked my boyfriend out of my apartment, because he was basically living off me. And then that’s when I found out I was pregnant. I was so shocked! I was going to major in Business and wanted to be a gaming lawyer, but I’ve changed it to adoption lawyer now. I had to deny the full-ride scholarship after my pregnancy.
It was really difficult to tell people I was pregnant. I was ashamed of myself; I ended up going on my senior trip to Disneyland one month pregnant. I didn’t tell anyone at all at first. It was really really embarrassing for me. The only people who ended up supporting me were my church friends, my mom, and my sister. My extended family didn’t want anything to do with me. I was ashamed until I chose adoption; at that point everything kinda fell into place.
What happened was that I didn’t think about adoption at all at first. I did collect baby things and baby clothes. I was thinking, well I have to pay for my apartment and my schooling, and I can’t really do full-time work. My mom’s a single mother to four children and at the time, she wasn’t getting a lot of Child Support. So I knew I couldn’t provide for my daughter. I was scared to death…I knew I could go without food just to make sure I put a bottle to her mouth. I knew of girls my age who did have babies but they were going out and partying and leaving their babies to their parents. I knew that my mom didn’t need another baby to raise, I knew it’d be my responsibility.
Open adoption was something I didn’t really know about until I started looking at the adoptive family profiles. My Catholic faith told me that if something was supposed to happen, it’ll happen. It was really simple going through the adoptive family profiles, seeing people’s pictures and faces. I really wanted to be in my daughter’s life as much as possible, so I was picky when I looked at adoptive families. I think I went through 80 profiles and only picked 2 couples out that bunch that I talked to! I chose the adoptive family that I did because I felt that we could have a conversation every day; talking to them didn’t feel awkward and it wasn’t all about my baby. I’d suggest to any woman thinking about adoption to make sure to hold out until you find that perfect match. I believe there’s a match made in Heaven for every single person.”
Would you like to learn more about the pregnancy choice of adoption for your baby? Click here to request a FREE pregnancy kit, with materials and info so that you can find out if adoption is right for your situation.
As Vice President of Lifetime Adoption, Heather Featherston holds an MBA and is passionate about working with those facing adoption, pregnancy, and parenting issues. Heather has conducted training for birth parent advocates, spoken to professional groups, and has appeared on television and radio to discuss the multiple aspects of adoption. She has provided one-on-one support to women and hopeful adoptive parents working through adoption decisions.
Since 2002, she has been helping pregnant women and others in crisis to learn more about adoption. Heather also trains and speaks nationwide to pregnancy clinics to effectively meet the needs of women who want to explore adoption for their child. Today, she continues to address the concerns women have about adoption and supports the needs of women who choose adoption for their child.
As a published author of the book Called to Adoption, Featherston loves to see God’s hand at work every day as she helps children and families come together through adoption.
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