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My greatest joy in life is being with my husband who is raising six smart, caring and energetic children. None of them inherited our blood, but they have our last name and all the love that goes with it.
Women are often stigmatized for choosing to give up their children for adoption. However, in my experience, it was not the lack of love that led women to choose adoption, but the amount of love. I have seen that it takes immense strength and compassion to selflessly carry a child in another’s arms.
Thanks to these brave women, my hopes and prayers of becoming a mother have been fulfilled.
Paul Batura: The best risk my wife and I have ever taken
When I adopted my first son, I remember feeling a sense of amazement and awe as I looked down at the little life that slowly swayed in my arms. The precious baby boy I held was not formed in my womb, but my son.
I was sitting in that moment thinking how special it was. And I felt heartbroken for my son’s birth family who may never go through it all. That’s when I decided to do a free adoption. I wanted the brave woman who chose life for this little boy to experience the joy of his smile and the magic emanating from his laughter.
After our first successful public adoption, our family was blessed with another little boy. He brought happiness to our home and we want to grow our family again I thought.
Oswold family photo.Ashley Oberholzer Photography
Unfortunately, what seemed like a great addition fell through the cracks. I didn’t have him in my stomach, but I did have him in my heart and had high hopes for the family we dreamed of. It was a great loss and grief for me, my husband, and our two young sons.
I’M SO GRATEFUL MY BIRTH MOM CHOSE LIFE
We wanted to open our hearts and homes to new life again, but were terrified of having to have another child just to hear they weren’t going to be ours. Despite our pain and fear, we took our family information to St. Gianna and Pietro Mora’s Maternity Home. This maternity home is a place that provides care and support to pregnant women and their children while helping them through the adoption process.
One of the mothers being cared for there was unsure if she would be able to provide her child with the best possible future. She wanted to choose her life, but she wondered what that life would be like for her.
When she hears about our family and the loss we have recently experienced, she feels a strong connection and knows that the baby growing inside her is part of our home. I got
My husband and I were honored to name our new daughter and decided on the name Everleigh. Because she is our forever baby, she healed all the pain of our past and encouraged us to keep her heart and home open.
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We soon adopted three more wonderful children and advocated open adoption for all six. Now my husband and I sit on the sidelines at football games and track and field events, or sit in the bleachers at hockey games and cheer on our kids. Our children are being raised with more love and support than I could have ever imagined.
Through adoption, I learned a lot. One of those things is that a mother’s love knows no distance. My children may be hundreds of miles from their birth mother, but the love and assurance they receive It defies all adoption stereotypes.
Another thing is that a mother’s love knows no DNA. These six children of hers are my sons and daughters, and my feelings for them are not determined by lineage, but by the unconditional love that comes from being a mother.
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Finally, each life is beautiful and precious and deserves a chance to experience love and happiness. The strength of a woman like a child’s birth mother allows me to stand in the kitchen and see the world through the eyes of a child.
Thanks to the decisions these women made in their lives, I am able to bear the title of “Mom” with immeasurable gratitude and pride.
