Meeting

Living in Seattle, flying to Jacksonville, Florida in the middle of October was quite appealing.  Because of this, Matt and I chose to stay in a hotel near the beach.  It was about 30 minutes from Mark's office, but on a Saturday morning, the commute was nice and we were able to just chat and enjoy the bright sun.  Upon arriving at Mark's office, we were unsure.  If we had not researched him beforehand, we would have been very nervous.  As it turned out, he works out of his old remodeled home along with his wife who is the office paralegal.  In conversation, we found out they have four adopted children of their own.  Mark, who is very lawyer-like, greeted us and welcomed us into a seating area and began explaining how meeting our potential birth mom (or parents) would go.  He ran through all the questions he thought we should ask and basically told us there were not any questions off limits. 

After chatting with him for nearly 30 minutes, a cab arrived in front of the house.  I could barely see Tiffany as she began to walk towards the house and I think I was holding my breath.  And then, I saw her face.  Other adoptive families had spoken to us about how much their birth mom looked like them or other members of their families, but I was skeptical.  However, Tiffany looks so much like she could be a part of Matt's family it is uncanny.  My initial impression of her was that she was hard.  It was like she had armor on and was ready to shield herself from anything that might hurt.  Mark introduced us and, again, reminded Tiffany and us that nothing was off limits.  He told her that if any point she, or us, felt uncomfortable to call him and he would call a cab service for Tiffany again.  After about 15 minutes of conversation, Mark encouraged us to go to a cafe a few blocks away.  At that point Matt, Tiffany, and I left Mark's office and drove to the cafe.  It was one of the most surreal moments of my life.  We were getting in the car with a perfect stranger who knew 25 things about us, had seen four pictures, and we were hoping would feel confident enough in us to give us her unborn baby.

I had eaten breakfast beforehand, but Tiffany was hungry and Matt ate again to be polite.  We spoke openly about what brought her to her decision to give her baby for adoption right there in the crowded cafe.  While her story is not mine to share, I can say Tiffany was absolutely everything we'd been praying for all that time.  She said the exact words I'd prayed our birth mom would say.  She told us that when she went to the emergency clinic to talk about terminating her pregnancy, God put it in her heart that this was not intended to be her child and that she couldn't kill the baby.  She told us God intended this baby for someone else and that from that moment on, she began to pursue adoption.  Andre, the birth father, had already signed the paperwork to terminate his rights.  After breakfast, none of us were quite ready to part ways, so Tiffany decided to show us around where she lives.  We walked around a shopping mall with her for another hour or so, just chatting.  At the end of all of this, she asked if we could drive her home instead of having to call the cab.  On the way to her apartment, Tiffany asked if we would like the sonogram photos.  As she handed them to me, my hands trembled.  I was holding the first pictures of my healthy baby girl!  We hugged goodbye and as Matt and I drove away, we had to stop the car and both started to cry.  

Mark sent us a text later that day to inform us we were "officially matched."  Matt, Ainsley, and I would be welcoming a baby girl right around Christmas!  And so we waited with great anticipation...