During National Adoption Month, we interviewed families from local AFTH offices to learn about their experiences and will be sharing their stories here. First up, a Pittsburgh area family shares how heartbreak can make love even more powerful.

National Adoption Month Week One with logo

After experiencing a still birth in 2011, Greg and Denise set out to try other methods to expand their family. In vitro treatments and failed surrogacy could have broken their spirit, but their desire to become parents helped them prevail. In a support group Denise met another woman who had suggested adoption and Adoptions From The Heart.

Having done little research about the adoption process, Denise and Greg began their journey with an informational meeting at the local Greensburg office. The friend that referred them to the agency had been chosen by an expecting mother so quickly; they thought their experience would be similar.

Flash forward two years. Denise and Greg were still waiting for their placement, for the call that would make them the parents they so desperately wanted to become. Denise described the wait period as a humbling experience. “I just kept wondering, what is wrong with us? Why are we not being chosen? It was gut-wrenching and now I look back and understand things happen when it is the right time, but it sure didn’t feel like it then,” she explained. “Not only were we grieving the loss of our daughter, but during the wait my father was diagnosed with lung cancer.”

Despite the difficult wait, they didn’t give up. There were moments when Greg thought that maybe they should give up Denise explained, but the overwhelming notion that the right child is out there kept them on the adoption path. “Everything happens as it is supposed to and now we have our daughter and a great relationship with her birth mother.”

“Our daughter’s birth mother suffered a great loss and having experienced the loss of our daughter in 2011 we have been able to bond on whole other level. She gave us the gift of our daughter and we will be forever grateful.”

Before Denise lost her father to cancer, he was able to meet their beautiful baby girl. He knew their family was finally complete. She explained, “As tiring and disappointing as the process can sometimes be, there is a light at the end of the tunnel and in the end everything is worth it. He knew that.”