Gift of Life received this thank you letter the other day. It’s a great birth mom story, and a wonderful example of the importance of pictures and letters in our birth mother’s lives.
Here is Kelly’s Story:
I just got the pictures of Cooper in the mail. Most of the day, I’ve been in tears, but they have been happy tears.
Almost 14 years ago, I contacted Gift of Life adoptions. I remember being only 17 and riding my bike pregnant to your office and asking for help. I had a stack of adoptive family profiles to look through. I came to Darla and Jack’s profile, and I knew they were the perfect match for this little baby, I was going to have to give up for adoption.
I remember that day as if it happened yesterday. I knew I needed to place him for adoption. I wanted him to have the best life ever. And today, when I got those letters and the pictures, I could see how happy he truly is. It melts my heart, and I will never ever regret the decision I made.
Since the adoption my life has been completely out of control. I told everybody I was fine that I didn’t need help, and that I did the right thing. But deep down I was broken and didn’t even know it. I became addicted to pain pills. I had another little boy. When he was three, he was taken from me, and given to his father’s parents. He is now eight years old.
It completely crushed me that I had two children, and I didn’t have either one of them. So, four years ago, I decided to change. I got help and I got clean!!!!!
My eight year old son, Zander knows all about Cooper. He knows that that’s his brother, and hopes that maybe, one day, he can meet him. I hope, one day, that we both can.
I hope Cooper understands why I did what I did, and that I did it because I loved him. I loved him, before I even met him.
My little sister, Katie is now an adult now, and she has two kids of her own. Katie always remembers Cooper’s birthday and calls me on that day. She also has seen me struggle and make bad decisions. She told me the other day “Sissy, I know the last 14 years have been hard, but thank you. I watched and learned from you, I love you.” That melted my heart, but made me proud at the same time.
The only thing I do regret is not telling anybody in my family what my plans were with Cooper. My mother found out after, and she was very heartbroken. She also was an alcoholic and had issues of her own. She died while I was six months pregnant with Zander. So, I’ve had a lot of pain and heartache and bad decisions in my life. But one of the best decisions I ever made was giving Cooper up for adoption.
Thank you so much for sending the pictures and letters, and thank you so much for helping me find the perfect family for the perfect little boy.
-Kellie
