Our World Changed Forever and Our Lives Truly Began

Abby, Josh, and baby Grayson at the AFTH Family Picnic

Adoptee to Adoptive Mother

Adopting a child has always been a dream of mine. I myself was adopted from South Korea as an infant. I always felt strongly about wanting to give a child the life, love, and opportunity that I was given myself. The day my husband and I decided to pursue domestic, open adoption, was the day everything in our world changed forever and our lives truly began.

Open Adoption

Although adoption was not new to us or our family, open adoption was unfamiliar and we really had to take the time to educate ourselves. We got really lucky to have found an adoption agency that from the very first informational meeting, felt comfortable and we felt supported. The educational courses taught us and prepared us for our open adoption journey. Josh and I not only learned about the process as potential adoptive parents but also about open adoption through the birth family’s perspective which is and always will be so important to us, we will honor our son’s birth parents for the rest of our lives. We worked with some wonderful social workers who had such an impact on our journey. Both of us met some incredible people throughout the process and felt the love from the adoption community which fueled us, motivated us, and inspired us to keep pushing for our dream.

Our Son Grayson

We were placed with our baby boy, Grayson, November of 2018, after being live on the books for only 7 weeks. I went to work that morning like any normal Monday, dreading my 13 hour day ahead of me. I received the call that afternoon. It was an emergency placement so we were told that our baby boy was born that morning and that we had been chosen. I will never, ever, quite forget the emotions of that day. The following day, we spent the day at the hospital with the birth parents and our son. The time spent between the 5 of us in that hospital room was a life-altering experience. A sacred time that is Grayson’s story to tell one day if he chooses.

Family of Three

17 months later and there aren’t enough words to describe the joy and love he has brought us and our family. He has healed hearts, saved, and changed our lives in ways he will never understand. As a full-time stay-at-home mom, I have had the unique opportunity to watch him grow in the most incredible ways and find myself overwhelmed with gratitude and wonder every single day. They say life gives back what you put in but I often wonder what we have done to deserve this life.