Dan and Shannon's story
We grew up in large families. We were both the fourth child. After we got married we dreamed of having children of our own to nurture, inspire and guide throughout life. After being married four years and undergoing two years of unsuccessful fertility treatments we decided to adopt a baby. We spoke with friends who recommended their adoption agency. In February 2003 we called Adoption Support Center, Inc. In March after attending an information meeting at the agency, we decided to adopt a baby from the United States...a domestic adoption.

After this meeting, we received a touching story comparing becoming parents to traveling to Australia. In April, we drove back to the agency and joined several other couples for an all day seminar. We learned about each of the steps in adopting a baby. We asked important friends to write letters of recommendation telling why we would be good parents and we collected photographs of our lives for a scrapbook. We also had to have an interview with a caseworker at the agency. Then we had another caseworker come to our home. She asked us more questions and looked at all the rooms. In August, the agency began advertising in newspapers all around the state. While waiting for a lead, we decorated a nursery in neutral colors.

Four months went by and we said many prayers to God asking him for the opportunity to be parents. On December 8, there was a message on our voice mail from the agency. The message said, "We have good news for you, please call us back." We were overwhelmed with emotions. When we reached the agency, we were told that a 25-year-old woman, with two other children, had chosen us to adopt her unborn son. She had selected us from seven biographies sent by the agency. Our prayers had been answered.

During the next two weeks we enjoyed sharing our exciting news with our family and friends. Everyone was thrilled and nervous for us. They all agreed this news was the best Christmas gift we could ever receive. On December 22, we met the birth mom at her home along with an agency counselor. We discussed her wishes for the baby. She invited us to come to her doctor's visits and participate at the hospital. She showed us pictures of the ultrasound. After the adoption she said that she would like to receive letters about his development and pictures of him throughout his life. We drove to the birth mom's town two more times to visit with her and go to the doctor's office. The doctor was very kind and humorous. She made everyone feel comfortable with the situation. She let us hear the baby's heartbeat and feel his head and bottom through her stomach.

On January 26, 2004, the state was under a winter storm warning. It was snowing and sleeting heavily everywhere. At 2:47am we received a phone call from the agency letting us know that the birth mom had gone into labor. After calling the state police to hear about the bad road conditions, we got in our car and began our slow journey. It took 4½ hours to get there. When we arrived at the hospital, the birth mom was patiently waiting for her labor to progress. We were greeted by her mother. We all sat in the birthing room and chatted for several hours and tried to guess when the baby would make his grand appearance. After 9 hours of labor and 2 pushes, he arrived! Shannon had the honor of cutting his umbilical cord. He was born at 11:40am and weighed 6 pounds-1 ounce and was 20 inches long. The birth mom wanted to name him Devin Christopher and we honored her request. The birth mom invited us to spend the day in her room so that we could enjoy Devin together. He had several visitors. The following day the attorney came and the birth mom signed papers granting the adoption to occur. She created a new family.

After Devin's 48-hour blood test, he was released from the hospital. Dan carefully placed him in his car seat and into the car. Dan drove while Shannon sat in the backseat to monitor Devin. The sun was shining and the snow glistened during the 3-hour ride home. As we entered our home town, Shannon looked at Devin and welcomed him home and Dan looked at Shannon and welcomed her to Australia. She began to cry tears of joy. We admired Devin and thanked God for such a miracle.
On April 8 his adoption was finalized.

Part 2...