Grateful for Open Adoption!

Tonight we had the wonderful opportunity of meeting Uziel's family. Uziel is Cora's birth father (in case you didn't know). We have previously posted about him and his courageous decision to place Cora against his parents wishes. We did not know if we would ever have the opportunity to meet his family. They were understandably upset and hurt when he relinquished his rights to Cora. We knew it would take time and prayer and God to help heal them...we did not know that this healing would start to happen so soon. Cora will be 2 months old on Wednesday. We were absolutely thrilled when he told us they would like to meet us and see Cora. Because Uziel's parents speak Spanish as their native language, we took along my father to help translate. I don't think it could have gone better. I believe that his parents spoke openly of their feelings and so did we. They expressed their love for Cora and for Uziel and Krychele. They shared their feelings of loss. They shared their hopes and expectations for Cora's future. They shared with us that they have no experience with open adoption and that they were afraid that they would never see or hear about Cora again. Thank goodness for open adoption!! I believe that it helped them to see Cora healthy and loved and know that she is okay. I know that they look forward to seeing her again. They were so sweet with her. His mom made two beautiful crocheted blankets for Cora that we will cherish! She is very talented and generous.

They had many other gifts for her too. We got to meet Uziel's parents, his paternal grandmother, 2 of his aunts, his 3 brothers, his sister in law and two nieces. We also met several of his close family friends. I got some amazing pictures tonight, but did not get permission to post all of them, so I will not. But we are grateful for the pictures and know that Cora will cherish them when she is older. We got this great 4 generation shot of Cora, Uziel, his father and grandmother - also in the picture holding Cora is his mother.

This past Saturday we also had the opportunity to attend part of Krychele's family reunion and meet many of her amazing family members - which I will post about tomorrow! Last week I was shopping with Vela's birth mother and today I cried tears of joy for her as I looked at sweet photos of the baby girl she gave birth to a few hours ago - Vela's 1/2 sister. Later this week we will see Hema's birth mother as he celebrates his 5th birthday.  We are so blessed to have open adoptions! There is no way that I could ever believe that adopting a baby and keeping that a secret for years and having no contact could be better for anyone!! Our birth families have been blessed to see these sweet children growing and happy and healthy and loved. We have been blessed to learn from our birth families and add them to our own extended family. But most importantly, our children are blessed to have so very many people who love them. They will better understand that they were placed out of love by not only hearing it from us - but also by hearing it from their birth parents and by feeling that love as they interact. I have often had people comment that it seems strange or uncomfortable or scary to have an open adoption. My experience has been the complete opposite - I am so very grateful for open adoption and for the amazing birth parents and their families that continue to allow us to be part of their lives!