The Call

It all happened so quickly. We had put ourselves at ease because we had asked our adoption agency to give us some time to prepare for a baby after our whirlwind screening was over. We expected a few months to get things ready. We were telling people, “There should be a little one by Christmas”. And then, out of the blue, in the middle of June (TWO WEEKS after finishing screening), we received a phone call. We were both in the car giving two strangers a lift home from a holiday school run by our Church. I answered the phone and heard our social worker on the other side. I blushed (why?!) and looked at my husband with a “oh-my-gosh-the-social-worker-is-on-the-phone” look.

She said, “I know you asked for some time to get ready, but we have a report we want to send you with a child we think is the perfect match for you. We are emailing the report to you, just read it and then give us a call and tell us what you think… It’s a girl”

I put down the phone and squeezed my husband’s hand, bursting to tell him our news but listening politely to the two people in the back of our car sharing their stories with us. That was a long ride back to church; sharing glances, wide smiles, leg taps, simply anything to communicate without blurting out the news to two strangers. We finally got to the parking lot and said goodbye to them, watching as they got out the car and walked away together. My husband looked at me. I started crying. We hugged in the cramped space of our car as I revealed, “It’s a girl; we have a daughter!”

Then it was report time. I was so nervous about seeing the first picture of our child (and yes, we decided that we would accept this child before we knew anything about her. We trusted our social worker and we trusted God). There is so much emphasis put on feeling a connection or bond through a picture, but how much can you tell from a picture? And so it was with great trepidation that we opened the attachment on my husband’s phone and read our child’s report.

When I saw her picture, I could see myself in her face. I couldn’t explain it, we don’t look the same, but I did feel a connection with her and a peace about our decision. What a treasure trove! For months we had been wondering about our child; boy/girl? What would they look like? How old? History? And suddenly, in front of us, was the information we wanted to know. And yet, when you see the first glimpse of your child, none of that really matters. Your heart stops, speeds up, and explodes within seconds, you want to laugh and cry at the same time, and you are bursting with feelings you have never experienced before.

The most amazing thing had happened: we had become parents to a beautiful 9 month old girl!