I was listening to a Rise podcast the other day, and something that the show's host, Rachel Hollis, said really stuck with me. Some people say that courage is the absence of fear. But I think that courage is being afraid, but then doing it anyway (from Rise podcast "how to start a successful blog with the alison show's alison faulkner). You can check out the podcast here.
Adoption takes courage.
It takes courage for an expectant mom to make the decision for herself and her child to find parents for someone she is creating in her womb. It takes courage to talk to a partner or her family about what she wants for this child, or to take the steps alone without that support. It takes courage to contact an agency or lawyer to tell them of her intentions to carry a child to term that she will not parent. It takes courage to look at photos and a bio of people you've never met and make the decision to contact them. It takes courage to meet these people and decide if they are the right people to raise this child. It takes courage to deliver a child and then entrust to their adoptive parents. It takes courage to sign the paperwork that will change their lives forever. It takes courage to maintain a relationship with that child, to be in their lives as a birth mother or first mom.
It takes courage to adopt a child. It takes courage to make the decision to parent a non-biological child. It takes courage to expose personal things about yourself to strangers in hopes that they will chose you to parent. It takes courage to talk to an expectant mom, hoping she will see all the love you can offer a child. It takes courage to smile at a baby shower, or congratulate those around you who are expecting. It takes courage to drive around town with a car seat in your car or walk by an empty nursery not sure when it will be occupied.
It takes courage to be adopted. It takes courage to talk to your friends about where you came from and to tell your story. It takes courage to let the parents and birthparents know what you need from them to feel whole. It takes courage to understand who you are and where you came from. It takes courage to forgive and to find the love that is in front of you rather than yearn for what could have been.
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