During National Adoption Awareness Month, we will introduce you to numerous guests, highlighting many parts of the adoption journey. After putting the call out to our community for adoption stories for November, Amy was quick to answer! While her true passion lies in singing, she was a little too camera shy to share her music with us today. Instead, Amy brings us the story of her (and Adam’s) journey to their daughter.
By Amy Hardy
My husband Adam and I met back in 2004 and we became fast friends. We were introduced by his college roommate, who happened to be a friend of mine from high school. It only took a few weeks of us all hanging out before our friend realized he was becoming a 3rd wheel! Adam and I dated for four years before we married in 2008, and we always knew that adoption would be part of our lives.
When I was in middle school, I learned that I had Turner Syndrome and I did not fully understand what that would mean for my future. My parents nonetheless promised me that I was healthy and would live a normal life, only that I would be short and remain at 4’11”.
A high school project prompted me to further study Turner Syndrome and I learned that my chances of conceiving a child would be very difficult, if at all possible. Before Adam and I married, we knew that this was going to be a trial for us. I asked him what he wanted to do and if he wanted to try IVF, but the doctor said it could be harmful to me and he did not want to risk it, so we went straight down the path of adoption.
Neither of us cared, we just wanted to be parents.
Adam is the oldest child of three and I am the oldest of five, and sometimes my siblings would even say they saw me as a second mom. Once we decided adoption was our plan and had a few years of marriage under our belt, along with stable careers, we decided to reach out to the Children’s Home Society of Virginia. They were recommended to us by a friend of my mother’s, who was actually adopted through them.
It was a long, four-year journey that included one heartbreaking failed placement in April 2017. The birth parents chose to parent soon after signing paperwork, and the adoption was not finalized. I had just told my school’s principal that I was likely not coming back to teach music after our spring break of that year, which only made things even more difficult.
Our first niece was due in June 2017, and despite how excited I was for my niece, it was a bit painful to celebrate. It’s never easy seeing everyone around you having babies…I remember that year specifically nine of the teachers at our school were pregnant or just had a baby too!
Our sweet niece finally arrived a little early on May 30th, and my family and I all celebrated her arrival. On June 16th, we received a call about a beautiful baby girl for adoption in foster care, who was born on May 28th. Everything happens for a reason, right? The girls are just two days apart and now are the best of friends.
On June 19th, we traveled to Richmond to meet her and her foster parents. They needed to get the paperwork ready and the baby girl had some final doctor appointments to go to before they would release her to us.
By June 26th, things were finally official.
Adam and I signed the paperwork and brought our daughter home…just 10 days from getting THE call!
Her foster parents are amazing, and while her adoption is closed as per the birth mother’s request, they created a beautiful photo album of her first month of life before she came to us. She has already asked to look at it a few times and it’s kept special in her treasure chest. Adam and I keep her foster family updated, and hope one day to do the same with her birth mother/family if they wish.
Amy is a stay-at-home mom to her daughter, Christina...a super-sassy four-year-old. She and her husband hope to adopt again one day soon. They are currently working with us at RG Adoption Consulting, and we are so honored to be helping them complete their family!