Our First Family Blog (with a little adoption history)

Today I took the the leap forward to create our Family Blog. We are a new family of 3, created by the blessing of adoption. Two wonderful people, Amber and Hugh, chose us to be the parents of their baby boy and we are forever grateful!

Here's a little history on how we got here today. After years, about 9, of failed infertility treatments and 1 miscarriage, we decided about a year ago, in August, to pursue adoption for creating and growing our family. We chose the Independent Adoption Center to work with. We were "on the books" waiting to be picked by a birthmother starting November 1. We were contacted by several birthmothers before being picked by a birthmother in San Diego on January 31st. She gave birth to a baby boy on March 15 and placed him in our care for one month. Unfortunately, this person decided to reclaim him. We were devastated, and grieved and waited for our forever child to come home to us.

On July 26th, a Thursday evening, a young woman, all of 17 years of age, called us (actually her cousin called) after receiving our letter from the IAC. We hit it off, and decided to meet in person, and we all 4 decided to match and agree to an adoption placement. We hit bumps along the road dealing with the babies' heritage, he is 1/8 Chukchansi Indian, and the tribe decided they wanted to intervene and not allow Amber and Hugh's adoption placement preference with us to happen. At this point the IAC decided not to work with the case.

Amber and Hugh, were committed to placing their child with us and wanted to talk to the tribe in person, so we agreed to fly them to our home and meet the tribe to ask them to change their mind. We made an appointment on September 24th with the tribal council, but a little surprise came our way first! The baby came early and we all had to deal with the torn emotions of the situation. We both separately, Amber and Hugh, and us were trying to provide comfort and love but without getting too attached to the baby. A very hard task to undertake, but the fact that he was a month early and had to be in the NICU for his first two week made it bearable.

Aedyn James Moore (or James Mitchell Lewis which is his name on the original birth certificate) was born on September 21, 2007 at Simi Valley Hospital at 3:06 am. He weighed 5 lbs. 11 oz. and was 20 inches long. His lungs were a little underdeveloped and he had to have help breathing,so he was transferred to Northridge Hospital where he spent the first two weeks of his life. We traveled back and forth daily visiting and taking care of him in the hospital. He was able to come home with us on October 4th.

Amber and Hugh stayed with us for 6 weeks until we could get things sorted out. Because the IAC was no longer involved we had to hire a lawyer, an adoption service provider, and a psychologist to get this adoption done. We now have what is called an independent adoption. We were going to have to go court on November 2nd to sign relinquishments, (two kinds - regular and Indian), but because of the ICWA law the tribe had the right to ask for continuance, and they did. We had already bought tickets for Amber and Hugh to return home November 4th, so we went to the adoption service provider to have them sign the regular relinquishments so they could return home. They will fly back out here to sign the Indian relinquishments in court, if necessary, when we have a secure date agreed upon by the tribe.

So, as of right now, Aedyn is OUR SON! Our journey with Hugh and Amber has been a windy road, but it is truly a blessing to have had them in our home and share this time with us. What a true gesture of their commitment to us and unconditional love for Aedyn they showed and with such great fortitude. I talked with Amber last night, and she sounded happy to be home, with her family and friends, but a little sad as well. We will continue a relationship with Aedyn's birthfamily throughout his entire life. There will never be any doubt that he was and is loved by them.

So, I will end this post by saying thank you to GOD! I prayed for a birthfamily that Shane and I could truly celebrate, one that would feel like extended family. Even though our roller coaster ride is not over, we feel extremely blessed to have a beautiful baby boy in our hearts and arms!