Jessa's Adoption Story

The day we brought Jessa home.

Life had become like a dream ever since we welcomed little Jayla and her birthfamily into our lives. They all brought us such joy that we couldn’t wait to do it all again. We both felt that there was another baby that needed to come to our home, so we got busy. When Jayla turned one year old we were approved with LDSFS.

Over the next 6 months we had the opportunity to meet many wonderful birthmothers, but none felt like they should place their baby with our family. We still knew that there was a baby out there who needed to come to our home. Around the end of October we decided to sign up with Parent Profiles. Nearly one month later we were contacted by Jelisa (Jessa’s Birthmother). We continued to e-mail each other over the next month. She shared with us her hopes and dreams for her little one and we couldn’t help but “fall in love” with Jelisa and her baby.

In mid-December we got a call from Jelisa’s friend telling us that Jelisa was in labor and was at the hospital. We started packing only to find out that Jelisa had been sent home. Since Jelisa was 2 weeks over due we decided to fly out to North Carolina anyway, assuming that the baby would be born during the next couple of days. We wanted to be there for Jelisa and her baby. The thought of the two of them being alone in the hospital was very daunting to us. At the time we had no idea that we would be in North Carolina for nearly 1 month before baby Jessa would arrive.

During that time we were blessed to meet Jelisa face to face. With a bright smile on her face she joked with us while describing her family life and how she had mastered the “pregnancy waddle.” She explained to us that she had just told her family about her pregnancy and that they were supportive of her decision. Throughout the entire meeting Jelisa showed such genuine concern for us and we were so excited to be able to finally meet her. We will always cherish the short time that we were able to spend with her.

Jessa was finally born on Jan. 2^nd 2010. Jelisa’s mom called us on the phone so that we could hear Jessa cry. It was surreal. We were able to see Jessa for the first time immediately after her birth for only a second before the nurse wheeled her to the nursery. Unfortunately, they would not let Michael in to see Jessa the entire time she was in the hospital. That nearly killed Michael. A couple hours later I was led to Jessa’s own private room where I was alone with her for the very first time. As I held Baby Jessa in my arms I thought of the amount of love Jelisa has for her and how blessed I was. It was then that I couldn’t contain my emotions anymore. Later Michael confessed to me that while I was crying holding Jessa, he was crying in the waiting room.

Jessa when she was 10 months old during one of my photo shoots.

The next day we drove back to the hospital and spent the day with Jelisa and her mom in the hospital room. Jelisa’s mom told us “Jelisa stories” that made us laugh while she rolled her eyes at her mom. Between stories Jelisa would ask me to go check on Jessa and to take some pictures for her. Jelisa wanted to make sure that baby Jessa was alright and that she wasn’t getting lonely. While we were at the hospital we asked Jelisa what her hopes were for Jessa. Tears started to well up her eyes as she told us that she wanted Jessa to be happy, to know Jesus, and to play sports. We smiled and told her that we could definitely do that.

The next day we arrived to sign papers and to take our sweet Jessa home. We were disappointed to find out that Jelisa had already gone home. It was sad that we didn’t get to see her and we only pray that it won’t be the last time.

We continue to email Jelisa often and every once in a while she will reply to us, “ Thank you for your sacrifice.” Michael and I just smile at each other as we think to ourselves, “Our Sacrifice?” You see, this is the type of person Jelisa is. We only hope that we can raise Jessa to be strong, faithful, and full of love, just like her birthmom.

We know that the Lord wanted little Jessa to come to our home and we can’t imagine life without her.