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Stork Central

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Posts posted by Stork Central

  1. Sometimes, it's not newborns who most need a loving new home. This was surely the case for two little boys, whose mama called us a month or more, seeking a safe and stable home for her sons. She'd done what she could for them, but she and the boys' dad agreed these kids needed and deserved so much more than either birthparent could give them... and so Abrazo began searching the nation for a suitable home for these little ones. Meanwhile, an Alabama couple with plenty of love to offer had reached out to resources across the country, too, and by the grace of God, they all found each other through Abrazo. We wish these precious boys a lifetime of love-- and the certainty that their forever family truly will be there for them, forever. Blessings, all! 

  2. Two mothers who attend our birthmother support group both were contemplating adoption fir their baby boys. Each had two other children they were parenting on their own. Neither found their open adoption plans supported by their families.

    Yet both mothers found the support they were lacking at Abrazo, and both found the right families for their babies in Abrazo’s February 2019 orientation, #CmonTom. And now, both baby boys get to grow up with open adoption stories that can forever surround each of them with truth and light and love.

    So blessings, all. Your journeys have been entwined in the sweetest of ways, and we can’t wait to watch where each of your futures lead.

  3. When a sweet mother in labor first contacted Abrazo a couple months ago, we didn’t know all the complications that lay ahead... but God did, and He surely had greater plans for this precious baby boy. After a national search for parents was launched, the birthmom found her son’s perfect parents in Iowa, and after attending our 2/19 orientation weekend, #CmonTom, plament is now complete! We wish this new forever family much joy in their merged life path... blessings, all.

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  4. Abrazo is seeking a wonderful adoptive home for a 14-month-old Anglo girl with hydrocephalus who was a preemie. She does have a shunt already, but she's going to need a family with a lot of patience and optimism to help her reach her full potential. Her teen mom loves her dearly, and wants her to have a nurturing family who can provide her more stability, care and developmental guidance than she herself is able to offer. This will be an open adoption through Abrazo's special needs placement program, so infertility is not a required prerequisite for placement in this case.  If you know a homestudy-ready family who might be interested,  please have them forward their homestudy and adoption profile to our Family Services Coordinator, Amy Byrd (abyrd@abrazo.org.) Thanks, y'all! 

  5. Abrazo's host hotel for 2019 is the Hyatt Place Airport/Quarry, and they're giving our guests a steeply-discounted rate, so if you're coming to San Antonio for any adoption-related visit(s) and/or for our Parents of Tomorrow orientation weekend, please call the local property directly to book your stay and be sure they give you the Abrazo rate: 210-930-2333.

  6. Board member Angela Martinez and executive director Elizabeth Jurenovich travelled to Blacksburg, VA at the end of last month to represent the Abrazo community at the memorial service for adoptive mother Susan Marmagas, who bravely contended with ovarian cancer for several years before passing away on 12/21/18. Susan and her husband Bill had adopted twice through Abrazo, and never missed bringing their daughters to Camp Abrazo, despite her illness. She will forever be fondly remembered by our community, and greatly missed by all of us, including their daughter's birthbrother's adoptive family, the Salinases, and their other daughter's birthsister's adoptive families, the Scott Wise family and the Linda Perkins family. Bill and Tasia and Elektra, you three are being lifted in all our prayers!

    Abrazo was saddened to learn last night of the death two years ago of birthmother Angela Lewis. Angela had placed here twice, so her children are growing up in the same adoptive home, and we lift the adoptive family in our prayers along with Angela's mother, her children and her siblings, as they manage this news and deal with this loss. 

  7. Abrazo was saddened to learn last night of the death two years ago of birthmother Angela Lewis. Angela had placed here twice, so her children are growing up in the same adoptive home, and we lift the adoptive family in our prayers along with Angela's mother, her children and her siblings, as they manage this news and deal with this loss. 

  8. It's our first placement of the New Year, but it was already extra-special. That's because this beautiful birthmama was referred to Abrazo by her cousin, who also placed her baby here years ago, so their entire family supports this decision-- and loves the adoptive couple so carefully chosen to be the proud new parents of this precious baby girl! The adopting parents are graduates of our August 2018 orientation weekend, Bag 'Em and Tap 'Em, so they've come a long way in less than half a year, and we can't wait to see how they grow as a family. Blessings, all!

  9. Christmas came upon us so quickly, we didn't even get a chance to post our two (yes, TWO!) placements on Christmas Eve... born to two birthmoms who were friends, who were both due next year yet who somehow each delivered on the same day, in the same hospital!

    The first placement we did on Christmas Eve was that of a beautiful baby boy for the first for one of our latest orientation groups, the Sausage Smugglers (October 2018)...

    And the second (and third) placements of that day were a set of twin boys, who were placed with graduates of our Bag 'Em & Tap 'Em orientation of August 2018. 

    Congratulations to both sets of proud parents, and blessings to these three fine boys and their loving birthmamas. 

  10. It’s been an amazing week for This Is Me Excited (February 2018), as the two sets of experienced parents from that group both saw their dreams come true in one week’s time, after months of waiting patiently for the “right” match to come along. 

    For the couple who was waiting for a daughter only, their prayers were answered by a single mom of a daughter who birthed another baby girl and elected to place.

    For the Abrazo againers, a match that seemed anything but certain became an example of faith rewarded, when a birthcouple’s dedication to the couple of their choice made the adoptive couple the proud parents of their second son.

    Blessings to both these sweet newborns, to  these adopting families, and also to the special birthfamilies who made both placements possible. 

  11. All's well that ends well-- and that certainly applies to the last of our August 2017 orientation group, KEEP IT QUIET: TRIED TWICE IN THE MORNING, who joyously met the newborn daughter they'd long dreamed of this evening! Her birthmama had joined Abrazo's program a month ago, but had fallen out of contact largely, until she gave birth this weekend and came to the decision that adoption truly was the best choice she could make for her baby. The againers who had waited so patiently for their second adoption dream to come true were more than happy to rush cross-country, and tonight, they are a grateful family of four! Blessings, all... truly, good things DO happen for them that wait! 

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  12. These againers were to have joined us for orientation this month, but when an expectant mother came to Abrazo weeks ago seeking a Texas family for her baby boy, they were ready. And so today, her beautiful baby boy became their second son, and instead of coming to orientation, they’ll join us for Camp Abrazo, instead— as a family of four! Blessings, all!

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  13. Abrazo's last orientation weekend of 2018 will be in October, at the Hilton Garden Inn... we must have your completed inquiry form, your application, and all supporting documents on file in order to confirm your registration. If you're interested in being one of Abrazo's adoption success stories in the year following this October's orientation, call Martha at 210-342-5683 and talk with her about how you can be one of the lucky folks getting in before year's end. 

  14. When they first matched with the dear expectant mama who chose this then-childless Tennessee couple from our This Is Me Excited orientation of February, 2018, the due date seemed a long ways off... but several months gave them ample time to truly "become family" with the prospective birthmom and her relatives, which became something truly precious to them all.

    Because of this, they gathered around the precious baby girl born here this week not as near-strangers, but as family, and that's only fitting, for "family" is what they'll surely be, from here on, too.

    We wish all of them every joy as their relationship grows, and we thank them for living out their promises to forever raise this child in an environment of love and honesty. Blessings, everyone! 

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  15. Three weeks ago today, they were one if the hopeful couples attending our August 2018 orientation weekend, Bag ‘Em & Tap ‘Em, wondering if and when this process would work for them? Still, for whatever details may not have been in place yet, their hearts were in the right place, already. That was the first thing a newly-delivered mother saw, when she looked over profiles this week, and today, her tiny baby boy has become theirs, as well. We wish them Godspeed as they grow as a family, and we celebrate their beloved new arrival.

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  16. Sometimes, waiting for a dream to come true can be exhausting. You try to keep your hopes up, but the doubts creep in and the time drags  and you begin to wonder whether it’s every really going to happen for you? That’s when lesser souls might lose sight of their dream, but not you. And then, when you least expect it, you get The Call that changes everything. (Forever.) And then, like our This Is Me Excited (2/18) couple who just became proud parents of a baby boy tonight, you know why things had to happen exactly when and why they did. And you’re infinitely grateful for every day you waited that led to where you are at long last. Blessings, all! 

     

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  17. They were graduates of the This Is Me Excited orientation of February 2018, and now they really have every reason to be excited, for thanks to a birthmother, her mom, a couple of AbrazoChicks who truly went the extra mile (and then some,) and a whole hospital staff, they are the proud parents of a beautiful baby girl! Blessings, all...

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  18. After waiting for years to have a child of their own, the patience of this childless couple from our August 2017 orientation, Keep it Quiet: Tried Twice in the Morning was about to be tested again, because their homestudy worker didn’t get their report in until after the first of the new year.  Then, they had to wait for the right match to find them, and then, they waited for the due date. Through it all, though, they had their faith to sustain them, and now, they have added a beautiful 10 lb baby boy, his selfless first mom and his doting birth-great-grandmother to their family circle, as well. Blessings, all! 

  19. Last month, they were patiently waiting for some sign that their match was headed in the right direction, although it didn’t look promising. They couldn’t know then that fate was, in fact, leading them towards the child of their dreams, just in the opposite direction. By finding tbe courage to let that match go just when tbey did, this couple from our KEEP IT QUIET (Tried Twice in the Morning) orientation weekend of August, 2017 made themselves available right in time for a newly-delivered mom looking for a Texas couple who just matched their description. Tonight, she made her newborn son theirs, too, and we are so happy tbey are all now family... all’s well that ends well. Blessings, all!

  20. Thanks for asking! San Antonio is a bit "light" on adoptive family support groups, but there's a great group out of Austin called Adoption Knowledge Affiliates, which puts on a really good conference every November. Some of Abrazo's families in SA tried to launch a local support group for adoptive parents some time ago but it never really got off the ground.

  21. “There may be pain in the night, but joy comes in the morning.” ~ Psalms 30:5

    We know the entire Abrazo family will join us in celebrating the wonderful news that a Louisiana family near and dear to all our hearts have become the proud parents and big brother of a beautiful newborn boy— thanks to a loving birthmom who made the “right” choice in the end. Praise God, from whom all blessings flow (for this adoption story is truly filled with God’s mercy and grace, from beginning to end!)

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  22. A childless couple from the Austin area came to our February 2018 orientation weekend, This Is Me Excited, having no idea how swiftly their lives were about to change. They were, however, ready and willing to jump in with both feet after that weekend, and it was surely a good thing!

    Because their finished profile got sent in the week an expectant mom came in with a specific wish for a childless Texas couple to raise her baby. Their homestudy was completed just in time for the case assessment to go out, about two weeks ago. And the baby was born ahead of schedule, exactly six weeks after their orientation weekend. 

    Today, these Austinites moved from the ranks of hopeful parents-in-waiting to for-real adopting parents of a beautiful baby girl, thanks to the difficult and conscientious sacrifice of a loving birthcouple. We wish all four of them a beautiful and lasting family relationship, and we hope this precious child always knows how adored she is by each one of them. Blessings, all! 

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  23. We were ever so sorry to hear from another Abrazo family that AbrazoDad Joe Gomez had another stroke last week and passed away in Kentucky.

    Joe was a great dad with a bad heart, who became a single dad after he and his wife divorced. He had a debilitating hemorrhagic stroke in December at the age of 49 and although this former Eagle Scout struggled valiantly to recover, another stroke this month felled him.

    We lift Joe, his family (including former wife Teena) and their son in our thoughts and prayers.

    He was a good man, and will be greatly missed. Rest in peace, Joe!

    Joe Gomez.jpg

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