Our Blog

  • When A Friend Told Me There Were Websites To Help Me Find Adoptive Parents

    This guest post is by Simmy, a birthmother.   When I was younger I always tried to imagine what it would be like to be a senior in high school. Being pregnant was never part of the plan. So it came as a complete surprise that I got pregnant, and even more surprising when I didn’t find out until my eighth month in. I’ll never forget what my best friend said to me in the school bathroom when I told

  • I Didn’t Give Up My Babies. I Gave Them More.

    This guest post is by Stephanie Burton, a birthmother. As the birthmother of four children, my story is probably unique. Three of my children were adopted by the same adoptive couple at different times. The child who was not adopted is being raised by her biological father. I raised my first child for 2 1/2 years. But when I gave birth to my second child, I found that as a single mom to two girls under three I was too overwhelmed to

  • How Our Blog Has Helped Us Bond With Our Son’s Birth Family

    This guest post is by Kim, an adoptive mother. A picture is worth a thousand words. That is something we have heard a million times over. But I didn’t fully understand the meaning of that phrase until we started our open adoption in 2013. When my niece in California was born I was sad because, as a New Yorker, I felt like I would miss her growing up—seeing her in her adorable little outfits, watching her learning to crawl, hearing

  • How A Couple’s Failed Adoption Match Led Them To Their Baby

    Last Christmas, Adrienne and Will Pfaffenberger hit rock bottom. After being matched with an expectant mother considering adoption, they got to know her over the next five months, receiving pictures, ultrasounds, and even an angel teddy bear with a recording of the baby’s heartbeat inside. When the delivery day arrived, Adrienne and Will packed up their car and drove from their home in Indiana to a hospital in Ohio, where Adrienne was invited into the delivery room and cut the baby’s umbilical cord. From

  • The Moment I Knew I Had To Place My Baby For Adoption

    This guest post is by Crystal Byrd, a birthmother. I was 20 years old when I found out I was pregnant. When the doctor came in and told me I couldn’t believe it. I was in complete shock. That day changed my life forever. I remember thinking, am I ready to be a mother? Am I ready to raise this sweet little spirit? As I asked myself these questions and further evaluated my life and circumstances, I knew from the

  • Watch This Adoptive Mother Surprise Her Daughter With A Wedding Gift She’ll Never Forget

    Brooke Zugg’s parents always wanted a baby girl. When they were dating, they said that if they had a little girl they would name her Brooke. One day, more than 20 years ago, their dream came true when they welcomed Brooke into their family through adoption. It was their second adoption. A few years earlier, they adopted a little boy named Brian. Brooke’s mother was so grateful that when Brooke was 18 months old she wrote her daughter a special letter on

  • 5 Reasons Adoptive Families Should Consider Homeschooling

    This guest post is by Rachel Garlinghouse, an adoptive mother and author. I was one of the moms who swore I would NEVER homeschool. I, like many, considered homeschooling to be a process that isolated kids, making them increasingly socially awkward with strong aversions to mainstream society. I also didn’t want to engage in epic battles with my kids over worksheets, handwriting techniques, and math (the subject I most despise). Then I had an “aha moment” when my oldest daughter came

  • Placing My Baby For Adoption Was My Opportunity To Show My Love For Him

    This guest post is by Makena, a birthmother. Most the time, we don’t see the opportunities we can have in our lives. Some are so camouflaged that they creep up on us and catch us by surprise. I have been given many opportunities in my life. But I’ll be honest: When I was growing up I didn’t take advantage of many of them. I focused on myself, not on others. Then my dad, who always told me to make every

  • To The People Who Say “I Could Never Give My Kid Up For Adoption”

    This guest post is by Ashlee Amraen, a birthmother. “I could never give my kid up for adoption.” That’s the response I usually get whenever I tell people about my decision to find adoptive parents for my twins. But, you see, I didn’t give them up. I placed them. My adoption story began in May 2011. I was 21 at the time and my life was far from stable. I knew I wasn’t in a position to raise them. Placing my twins for adoption

  • As A Waiting Parent I Was Living In The Future. This Is How I Found Beauty In The Present

    This guest post is by Sarah Farrar, a hopeful adoptive mother and blogger.  I confess, as a waiting adoptive parent, I had been living in the future. This is a tale about how I found beauty, and a way to live, in the present. On the day I realized that 2015 is half over, my heart sunk. I instantly started dreading spending another Christmas holiday season still waiting to adopt. I turned to my husband, John, and said, “If we haven’t adopted by