This I Believe

Last semester I took a College Writing English class. One of our assignments was to write a 100 word essay that began with I believe.... and submit it to NPR for an essay contest. I wrote mine on vacation....I believe everyone deserves a vacation. I pussed out on what I really wanted to write about. I was soo wanting to write about adoption. I feel that it is my duty to educate people on adoption. I hate that adoption, to some people, has a negative stigma. It is so not that way.

I don't blame people for being ignorant to adoption, because quite frankly, so was I. When Brad and I were given the awesome diagnosis of unexplained infertility, I wasn't too surprised. I always knew deep down that I would not be a mother the normal way. We did the majority of the infertility treatments that made me into an insane freak....they obviously didn't work. I still remember the morning I woke up and all the sudden my world was bright and sunny again. Just like that, I knew that we were to adopt to start our long awaited family. I have never felt such peace before in my life and I haven't looked back since. It wasn't a hard sale to Brad. I knew he wanted to adopt when we were dating. It was never an issue for him. When I finally told him I was ready, his exact words were "It's about time!"

So this is how I would start my essay: I believe that adoption is the way that my husband and I are to begin our family. And, I couldn't be more excited about it. I believe that just because you can get pregnant, doesn't make you a good mother. I believe that if you are in a situation where you know that you can't provide the life you would like for the child that you are carrying, there is another option for you besides abortion. It is the miracle of adoption.

That is just the beginning. I would write well over the limit of 100 words. People need to understand that these mothers who place their child for adoption, not give them up for adoption, are doing a very selfless act. They are choosing a better life for their child. A life where they are wanted, will be loved and well taken care of. A life where there is a mother and a father who will be able to care for them and love them. These birth moms are taking themselves out of the equation and thinking of what is best for their child. To me, that is love. There is nothing negative about it and nothing to be ashamed of.

Brad and I pray for our future birth mom every night. We pray that she will have the strength and the courage to make a very tough decision. We pray that she will be comforted and that she will have peace with the decision that she is faced with. We pray that we will know and she will know that she is our birth mom. We thank God for her every night, and we don't even know who she is yet.