Thanksgiving Gift
We had just gotten the pie on Thanksgiving Day out when my husband’s cell phone rang. We were getting the adoption call from the agency! The first words out of his mouth were, “You’re kidding!” Our son was born that morning, four weeks early—and in Georgia, a different state than where the paperwork listed. This complicated the matter but did not stop us! With my mom and four-year-old son, we drove through the night from Michigan. I’ll never forget the moment his birth mother placed him in my arms. We unwrapped the blanket and counted the 10 little toes and kissed him! The next few days were a long ride and miracles happened in so many ways.
—Chris, Michigan
A Dinnertime Delight
I was making mashed potatoes for dinner when the phone rang. We were not expecting a referral yet, so the last person I imagined it would be was Sarah, our adoption coordinator. "I have good news, Zita," she said. "You have a baby girl." It was the moment our lives changed forever. One minute I was making dinner and the next, we were a family. The first thing I did after hanging up was to call my husband, who was on his way home, to tell him the news. I don’t think he’s ever gotten home faster than he did that night!
—Zita, Florida
Just in Time
It was a few days before Mother's Day, and I was feeling sorry for myself. I had expected to celebrate my first Mother's Day that year, but an adoption had recently fallen through. In that day’s mail, I found a Mother's Day card from an acquaintance who did not know about the failed adoption. Just as I was pulling the card out of the envelope, the phone rang. It was our social worker telling us she had a placement for us. Three weeks later, our first child was in our home.
—Valerie, California
It’s My Baby and I’ll Cry If I Want To
I was headed to my uncle's wake when my husband called. He kept saying, "You should pull over." I thought he was calling to see if I was OK, so I insisted that I was fine. Finally, he told me that we had a referral for a girl. I should have pulled over. When I heard the amazing news, I hyperventilated, the windows fogged up, and I had to pull into a parking lot. The store manager came out to see if I was OK. I managed to pull myself together to see my family at the wake.
—Patti, New York
A Memorable Meeting
I was in a meeting at the bank where I work when my phone rang. After excusing myself, I heard a woman saying, "Congratulations, you have a baby girl!" I put the phone down and started screaming, "I have a baby!" The customers in the bank thought I said, "I'm having a baby," so everyone ran to my office to help. I called my husband to tell him to come to the bank right away. He could tell that I was upset and thought the bank was being robbed!
—Kathy, Pennsylvania
Somber Celebration
At the precise moment the second plane crashed into the World Trade Center on September 11, I received a call from my agency representative telling me we had received a referral for an infant girl. As I wrote down the instructions for sending our visa and plane ticket requests to our travel agency in Manhattan, I had no idea what was about to occur. All I knew was that my daughter was waiting for me halfway around the world. We were determined that nothing would keep us from our child. We flew from the U.S. on September 22, a little wiser and sadder, yet infinitely hopeful about our future with our two children.
—Kimberly, Alabama
The Best Birthday Gift
My husband and I had decided to wait no longer. To celebrate my 30th birthday, we went to the Caribbean for what we hoped would be our last vacation as a childless couple. The morning of my birthday was sunny and beautiful. Wanting to start the decade off right, I was running on the hotel treadmill when my husband ran in asking if I had checked our messages at home. We hurried back to the room, crowded next to each other on the phone, and listened over and over to the news that we had a son. We spent the afternoon shooting countless pictures of each other and drinking champagne, deliriously happy about our secret.
—Sydney, Massachusetts
Shopping and Shouting
The first time, I was checking out at Wal-Mart with our four-year-old. We both started jumping up and down with the cell phone, saying, "We are having a baby!" We got some strange looks. He was born nine days later and came home with us at two days old. The second time was totally unexpected, as we were not "trying." See, it even happens with adoption! I was sitting at my desk when I got a call asking me if we were interested in adopting our child’s biological sibling, who had been born that morning. I stood up and announced, "I'm having a baby! I mean, I had a baby! I mean, I have a baby!" I told my boss I was taking maternity leave, starting that day.
—Karen, Ohio
Laid Off and Loving It
I was at work when I received "The Call" telling us that our baby boy was coming home from Korea. Five minutes later, I was called to the boss's office, where he told me that I was being laid off. I was so excited about the homecoming that I didn't care at all! It worked out to be God's way of telling me to be a stay-home mom...and I love every minute of it.
—Joy, Tennessee
A Security Surprise
We were in the security line at the airport when my cell phone started ringing as it was being x-rayed! I picked up the bag containing my phone and glanced at the number on the missed-call screen. I grabbed my shoes with one hand and hit redial with the other. By the time I'd heard the news and hung up, my husband had told everyone at the checkpoint the whole story. We got lots of latex-gloved thumbs-up from the security staff. Then we were off to a family wedding to tell everyone!
—Chelsey, Louisiana
Desperately Seeking Andrea
While traveling on business, I turned on my cell phone during a layover and found that I had too many messages to count. Our social worker was desperately trying to contact us. She had left messages with friends, family members, and coworkers, who, in turn, had called me. I knew right away that this must be "The Call." When I finally spoke to our social worker, I was excited to hear that there were two little boys in Russia who would become part of our family.
—Andrea, Minnesota
Magical News
My husband, Max, my mother-in-law, and I were sitting in a movie theater waiting to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I picked up my phone to turn it off and noticed that I had missed a call from our social worker, Ellen. I called her in the lobby of the theater and she told us about a newborn baby girl whose original adoption plan had fallen through and who needed an immediate placement. The three of us left the theater, met with an attorney, and, less than 12 hours after the call, were holding our new daughter.
—Rebecca, Florida
Creamed-Spinach Surprise
I had just finished eating an order of creamed spinach from Boston Market when my agency called to tell me it had a picture of my daughter. This was before the days of scanners and e-mail, so the agency agreed to stay open until I could drive there. I lurched out to my car, feeling sick from all the creamed spinach I had eaten. Today, ten years later, my daughter hates creamed spinach and squirms when I suggest we go to Boston Market for carryout—she knows I will tell her the story of how I got “The Call.”
—Anne, Illinois
A Baby for the Teacher
I was teaching my class of first graders. The secretaries in the school office knew that I was waiting to hear from the agency, so they put the call through to my classroom. My teaching aide says the color drained out of my face as I listened to a voice tell me they had a referral from Russia for us. I immediately found someone to watch my class and called my husband, who was out of the country on business. I received a Fed-Ex envelope with our daughter’s pictures and medical information the next day, but I waited two days to open it, until my husband returned from his trip!
—Stacey, New York
Right on Target!
Even though I wasn’t expecting a match for at least a year, I couldn’t stay away from the baby department at Target. The call came during one of these shopping expeditions. After I hung up, I called family and friends and left messages. Two hundred dollars and many happy tears later, I left the store, after I had shared my news with other shoppers and the cashier.
—Tracey, Ontario
Wonderful Word of Mouth
My husband and I had just returned from shooting photos to send to our adoption agency when the call of a lifetime came. We had told everyone that we were hoping to adopt and got word that the daughter of a co-worker of a friend had just given birth and wanted to give the baby a good home through adoption. We were surprised, excited, and scared. We arranged to meet with the birth mother the following day, spoke to the adoption agency, and brought our daughter home six days later.
—Diana, Ohio
Sounds Like a Beautiful Baby
The night before I got “The Call," a huge snowstorm left me stranded at home. My social worker called to tell me about a little boy who had been born just days earlier. She had pictures that she wanted to e-mail me, and, even though I didn't have Internet access at home, I told her to send them anyway. She suggested that I walk to a library to see the pictures, not knowing that the nearest one was five miles away and closed due to the storm. After much thought, I called my boss, who had made it to work. I told him my agency had just called and that they had a little boy for me, and then I asked him to go into my office and open my e-mail. When he found the right e-mail, he opened the pictures and described my son to me. I immediately fell in love with the most beautiful child in the world.
—Amy
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