Stork Central

Many thanks to our families out there whose generosity and Christmas spirit enabled the little elves who work at Abrazo to spend much of this past work week mailing out more than (drum roll, please) 80 Christmas stockings and goodybags to those birthsibs and birthfamilies whose holidays most needed some brightening this year!! With contributions pouring in from Washington to Rhode Island (including more than 50 stockings from 4 Pennsylvania families who get together annually to help us out, phone cards from Tennessee and 7 loaded yuletide totes from a Forum friend with a soft spot for lonely birthmoms!) as well as kind cash donations from Missouri to North Carolina to Texas and plenty of places in between to offset postage and delivery costs, Santa's sleigh made some much-needed extra stops, impressing even his reindeer with your kindness, y'all... muchas gracias, amigos! "...And I heard, o'er the rooftops, as Santa rode thru the night, 'Abrazo families ROCK! May their New Year shine bright!'"

These awesome againers had just begun their search for the baby girl they would've willingly swum the length of the ocean to find... when we posted a "home needed" note on the Forum, and just like beachcombers who come upon great treasure, they found a precious little starfish of their very own! Congratulations to our newest family of four, who plan to join us at Camp Abrazo in lieu of having returned to orientation (since the baby came before the next scheduled orientation weekend!), to the loving birthmom who diligently sought the family of her dreams for the daughter growing under her heart, to the birthfather who faithfully returned not just a signed waiver but a letter of blessing, and to the little girl who is going to grow up privileged to love them all!

Nearly a month ago, she'd called the office, due soon but entirely uncertain that adoption was, in fact, the "right" plan for her child's future. She'd already met with several adoption agencies but did not feel at ease with them, and somehow, as a result, she struck up a "phone friendship" with one member of the Abrazo staff who made her feel at home. Then, suddenly, she disappeared. Weeks went by without word from her, until this week, when she called to apologize. She went into the hospital ahead of schedule, and asked her Abrazo friend to come and visit, a visit which confirmed her sense that adoption was, truly, the best choice, and Abrazo, the right agency. Another phone call later, she found the perfect parents for her newborn baby, and this weekend, she, her baby's birthdad and one very blessed couple from the Sweetest Daze, 10/04 celebrated the grafting of a new family tree, one which is sure to provide shelter, shade and yes, good climbing branches for their most blessed baby boy. Vaya con Dios, amigos!

Here's a great article on Preparing the Relatives to accept the newest addition to the family, whatever that child looks like and however that blessing comes into your home. Read it now and share your thoughts!

Chant with us, now: Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! In exactly four months, all the members of our Woo Woo Parenthood Club (8/04) have become mommies and daddies, with the final family meeting their precious baby boy at Abrazo this morning, then enjoying a celebratory lunch with the birthmom, who is planning to also send his soon-to-be-born brother home with them in a couple of months. We don't know who we're happier for, the adoptive parents, who were so ready for this day; their beautiful birthmom, who was so eager to find just the perfect home for her children; or the beloved son they now share... but we do know this was a match made in heaven and we're just so tickled that God chose to let it happen here! (Thanks, Big Guy!) And congratulations, all.

Just a question for those of you who placed your babies for adoption some time ago: how have your priorities about how you wanted your child's family to be changed--or remained the same--in the years since you made your choice?

Just in time for Thanksgiving (gobble! gobble!), another little blessing for which to be grateful, as yet another of our couples from the Woo Woo Parenthood Club, 8/04 celebrates the arrival of their newborn daughter! They'll be sitting down to this year's holiday feast (gobble!) as a family of not just two but three!, along with the gracious new kinfolk who made it all happen; their baby girl's darling birthparents, busy birthbros and one very proud birthgrandmama! Happy Turkey Day (gobble, gobble!)... may this be just the first of many happy family memories you can all enjoy together!

Needed: a loving and financially-secure home for a newborn due in 3/05 to an Anglo birthcouple; the birthmother had hepatitis C prior to the delivery of her last child, who is in good health. Birthmom is in need of maternity support; birthdad is in full agreement with the adoption plan. If you meet our agency's stated admissions criteria, have a completed homestudy and wish to be considered for this case, please contact Abrazo's family services department. Thank you!

Well, they didn't have many weeks to prepare, but in their hearts, they'd already waited all their lives to become parents, and yesterday was one of the Sweetest Daze of their lives as another formerly-childless couple from our 10/04 orientation weekend took home the newborn son they already knew they'd love 'til the end of time! May every minute of their lives together be precious and sacred in its own right (and may there be countless blessings in store for their dear birthparents, as well).

And now, the Word, from Our Sponsor... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What image best describes your heart? A water-drenched kid in front of an open fire hydrant? Or a bristled, desert tumbleweed? You're acquainted with physical thirst. Stop drinking and see what happens. Coherent thoughts vanish, skin grows clammy, and vital organs shut down. Deprive your body of necessary fluid, and it will tell you. Deprive your soul of spiritual water, and it will tell you. Dehydrated hearts send desperate messages. Snarling tempers. Waves of worry. Growing guilt and fear. Hopelessness. Resentment. Loneliness. Insecurity. But you don't have to live with a dehydrated heart. God invites you to treat your thirsty soul as you would treat your physical thirst. Just visit the WELL and drink deeply. He does the hard part. All you do is ask. There is no spiritual "to do" list for you to tackle, no inventory of rules and regulations. Just drink. Let Christ be the water for your soul. Come thirsty, and drink the water of life. Receive Christ's Work on the cross, The Energy of His Spirit, His Lordship over your life, And His unending, unfailing Love. (Max Lucado)

From the stork's nest, we can see a number of coming placement opportunities for which good families are needed, from beyond the agency's current roster of parents-in-waiting: ...a birthmom is seeking an interracial (Anglo/African-American) couple for her biracial baby girl due 12/04... ...a secure, tolerant couple prepared for a challenging match with a drug-using mom lacking prenatal care and Medicaid/insurance coverage, who is expecting full Anglo twins (boy & girl) likely to be born prematurely in Dec/Jan... ...a birthmom getting Medicaid-covered prenatal care is longing to talk with families interested in her Hispanic/African-American baby girl due in January... ...a financially-stable couple willing to match with a birthmom expecting a Hispanic baby boy in March, who is in need of full maternity support for housing for herself and the severely-disabled child she is already parenting... ...childless parents-to-be ready for full Hispanic newborns due between December 2004 and March 2005... ...two loving Texas families open to legal-risk sibling placements (one male twin toddler case, and one toddler-and-baby case), with ongoing birthfamily contact to follow... Abrazo's family services department is welcoming qualified and homestudied applicants for these case opportunities between now and 12/1/04. Please fax valid, U.S. homestudies to Angela at 210/342-6547 with a letter of interest in order to receive a callback with further information. (For further information on Abrazo's admissions criteria, please refer to the agency website.)

"Time is of the essence," they say, and so it was for our newest set of parents, graduates of the Woo Woo Parenthood Club (8/04). It was around lunchtime on Wednesday that they got a call about talking with a birthmom in a hospital out of town, who'd already delivered. They had a good conversation, then hours later, they were asked to call her back. She had another question to ask them: would they be her baby's new parents? And could they get to Texas by morning, so the baby could go straight from her arms to theirs? No problem, they promised! And it wasn't... because this excited couple would move heaven and earth to become parents. So they did! They gladly drove all night long, and by morning, they were walking proudly out of that hospital with their darling new daughter, her loving birthmom, one doting birthgrandma, a timid birthsister and two Abrazo staffers very proud of them all! Congratulations to these sojourners on the road of life, and here's wishing them just a little more opportunity for sightseeing along their way home.

Abrazo is proud to boast a large number of againers, because it proves what awesome families we create, and makes siblings of our firstborn Abrazo babes! Today in Houston, one of our alumni families last seen at Camp Abrazo made a proud big sister of their darling first daughter, with our placement of their second child, a tiny cherub just one and a half years old. The new sisters are getting along famously, as are four proud parents (and even one set of birthgrandparents), to which we say "thank heaven for little girls!" because this adoption has been divinely-inspired and has even the angels dancing!

Happy Halloween Weekend! It's nine down and one to go, as today, another of the Tremendous Ten (5/04) returned to Abrazo to meet their precious new baby girl, making one very proud big brother of one handsome little guy who, up to now, had Mom and Dad all to himself! We ask God's blessing on this new family of four and the birthmom and her family whose faith and courage made it all possible! Here's wishing them a joyous future full of many happy memories made together... eh?

"California, here we come! Right back where we started from..." If you listen really carefully, you'll hear the strains of this lullabye being lovingly sung by Abrazo's newest parents, to their new baby boy, as these graduates of the Sweetest Daze, 10/04 wait patiently for Interstate Compact approval. It's a wait they're happy to endure, however, having waited a year in California for a baby to love, before coming to Abrazo one month ago! (And having been married more than 10 years, this baby boy is truly a long-awaited addition to their family, indeed.) But the best things in life are worth waiting for, as they say, so we'll wait patiently for their return to Texas for Number #2... same time next year?! Congratulations, y'all!

Hi, Missy & Doug! As our family services coordinator, Angela, mentioned during her phone conversation with you last Thursday and again today, your inquiry was received 10/4/04 and inquiries are reviewed within 2-4 weeks of receipt, so watch your mailbox for our response in the next week or so. We're sorry if you don't feel your calls have been returned promptly enough; please be aware that our policies do require staff to return phone messages within 72 hours. Finally, orientation weekends are generally scheduled every 2 months and are by invitation only; attendees are required to have both the approved inquiry, application and supporting documents on file in advance of confirmation. For upcoming orientation dates, please click on "Calendar" (above right) and scroll forward. Thanks for your interest in our program, and welcome to the Forum!

Congratulations to our newest orientation graduates, the Sweetest Daze, who just got home from a wild and wonderful weekend and distinguished themselves as being the first orientation group ever in which all the husbands got down on bended knee to serenade their adoring wives for Sweetest Day! It was very romantic-- now keep those fires burning!! One of the Sweetest Daze couples, of course, did not return home promptly; they're still in San Antonio, having officially taken placement today of their own personal miracle, a tiny baby boy! Here's to coming to orientation with their homestudy already completed and a profile that matched perfectly the wishlist of the brave birthmom who wanted a better life for her child and knew exactly what kind of family would fit most ideally. Timing is everything, and we wish this little fella and both of his families a lifetime of joy and happiness together. Vaya con Dios!

With two Texas-born, Abrazotots already filling their home with the sights and sounds of boys on the grow, these graduates of the Junebuggies orientation weekend of 6/03 had their hearts set on a girl, and they were more than willing to wait for just the right addition to their already busy family. Meanwhile, the agency was searching for the perfect family for a delightful birthcouple who had three children already and were looking for just the right home for their baby on the way. It took awhile, but fate led them to each other, and now, they're all just glad they took their time, as their long-awaited newborn daughter is being passed lovingly between couples and admired by all. We salute both families for their patience and thank them both for their enduring faith in the process which promises such a bright, happy future for the little girl they both love so.

Abrazo does require original and current letters of reference for each applicant, and we prefer formal letters from applicants' references, rather than using a certain form. (There are enough forms in the adoption process without us adding another!) Thanks for your willingness to offer important insight on the folks you know and their capacity to welcome a child into their home and lives through an open adoption plan.

Two months ago, they were just weary travellers who arrived at orientation late, having been directed to the wrong hotel. Given the many stressors they'd already endured along the way through fertility and adoption, it seemed like a crisis, at the time. Was it a sign? Was every effort they made towards parenting to be thwarted by one thing or another? Would they ever really be anybody's mom and dad or was that too awesome a dream to truly hope for? Today, this faithful Georgia couple from the Woo Woo Parenthood Club, 8/04 took home a tiny pink answer to their prayers, a little angel weighing in at 5 lbs., 15 oz. Here's to being "in the right place at the right time," even when it feels like a leap of faith! Because sometimes those are the memories that become the sweetest ones of all.

Muchas gracias! We have found loving families for both the biracial baby boy and our newest baby girl!

Calling all WooWoos! Given the awesome assortment of folks they were at orientation , we knew they'd all be turning into success stories before long, and sure enough! just today, another of The Woo Woo Parenthood Club, 8/04, have proudly added "Mommy" and "Daddy" to their job titles, with their placement of a simply darling newborn girl! They may not have much time left over for Forum postings now, as they settle in with their new daughter, but we're glad they got acquainted with the Forum family right from the start and we wish them the happiest of new beginnings as they (and their lovely birthmother) launch an enduring friendship on behalf of one very blessed little babe.

Just as Prince Charming searched the countryside for the one special girl who fit the glass slipper, Abrazo searched the nation for just the perfect parents for two little princesses in need of a forever family, and we found them in the Windy City, of all places! So today, tears of joy were shed in our office as our twin baby girls met their new mommy and daddy for the first time. Many thanks to the Illinois agency who helped us find this extraordinary family; to our foster family, Hugo and Gloria, who took such loving care of the babies in the meantime; and most of all, heartfelt thanks to the dear birthmom who dreamt of this fairy tale ending for her daughters and to the regal couple who made it all possible, by being more than ready and willing to move mountains of paperwork in record time to make it happen! The stars will surely shine brighter tonight, because in San Antonio today, dreams truly did come true.

Everything happens for a reason. It's one of those platitudes spoken by well-meaning folks when senseless things happen, and rarely offers true comfort to those it's said to... yet, there is a certain truth to it, which never becomes more real than at placement! Such was the case for our newest set of parents, graduates of the Tremendous Ten of 5/04. They'd matched with what seemed to be the perfect case, and built a tender relationship with the birthmom and her family, only to have hopes crushed just weeks ago, when the birthdad, who'd previously voiced approval for the adoption plan, abruptly changed his intentions and joined his mother in a quest for custody only days before the due date. After countless prayers and tearful discussions, the adopting couple withdrew from that match... but today, they are proud parents of a beautiful baby girl, born to another birthcouple, who were so impressed with our adoptive couple that after their first phone conversation this weekend, the birthfather himself made the call to invite them to parent his new daughter! Praise God, from whom all babies flow, and many blessings on both these sets of parents, that their life paths may be sun drenched, and lovingly entwined happily ever after.

Ahhh, the benefits of membership! This week, our agency got a call from a hospital social worker researching options for a patient who'd just delivered and needed to make adoption plans. The mom in question had just one simple request; she wanted her child to go to a loving Texas family who could be ready right away! Agency staff rushed into action, but had only one problem: given these busy summer months, our present parents-in-waiting were all either living out of state, or not yet homestudied!! What to do? Where to turn? The Forum, of course, where one of our wonderful Texas families had recently mentioned their hopes of adopting again after finalizing the placement of their firstborn! A phone call was made, a homestudy update and paperwork were completed, and today, Forumites who began this week as a family of three are now four, as they leave the hospital with one beautiful new daughter. Congratulations to these folks who had the faith to move mountains, to the birthmom whose courage and vision made all the difference, and to the sweet baby girl now blessed with both!