The Adoptions of Allyson and Julie

This story began when I (Tracy - the author) was 23 years old. I had a large cyst on my left ovary which required surgery to remove it While doing that, the doctors discovered that I was full of endometriosis! From then on I had a total of ten surgeries for reoccurring endometriosis. So severe that it was a level-4. The worst you can have! Over the next eight years I was in the operating room time after time.

In 1996 I met Mr. Wonderful, my husband Bill, and explained to him that there was a good chance my medical history would prevent me from having children. He said, NO PROBLEM, LET'S ADOPT! We tried three cycles of artificial insemination without success, then decided to move on with a different plan. So, on October 23, 2001, I had a complete total hysterectomy!

So, it was time to move on! On St. Patrick's Day in 2002, we had our first meeting with our adoption attorney, filled out our paperwork, created our dear birthmother letter, and submitted it to him - and there we go! On July 5th, 2002, we received a call from our attorney saying we had been chosen by a birthmother and birthfather to adopt their baby boy! And, by the way, he was already born! EEEK...

We went to the hospital to talk with the birthparents and to meet their baby. At that time, we knew in our hearts, this was NOT RIGHT! It turns out we had been lied to, and chose not to take adopt baby, and left the hospital empty handed and heartbroken! However, I must say we knew in our hearts this was the best thing that could have happened and the best decision!

We moved on, and within six weeks, we received another call from our lawyer saying we had been chosen, once again, by a 16 year old birthmother named Elizabeth, who was 32 weeks pregnant. We met her five days later, and FELL IN LOVE WITH HER! We took her to dinner and talked like old friends. I stared at her tummy knowing in my heart THAT IS OUR BABY IN THERE!

The next day, our attorney called and said Elizabeth had definitely chosen us and would love to continue this relationship. We agreed! We began attending all appointments, saw the baby on the ultrasound, and felt her move! We were on Cloud 9. We became so close with her and her boyfriend, Jason (the birthfather). I went to movies with her, shopping,...even lunch!

Our daughter was due on November 1, 2002. That day came and went and we were so nervously excited! On November 6th, at 10:30 pm, I received a call from Elizabeth's mom saying she was in labor - dilated to 4 cm. I had to call Bill home from work (he is a fireman). We drove soooooo fast to the hospital, and it seemed like forever to get there (the hospital was about 45 minutes away)! When we arrived, sure enough, there was Elizabeth, in hard labor. We stood by her side all night and at 8:33 am, on November 7th, 2002, our beautiful daughter was born! I got to cut her cord, as I had tears rolling down my face! She was just beautiful! We took her home the very next day.

Our child Allyson is now almost four years old! We continue to have this amazing relationship with her birthparents Elizabeth and Jason, and they have been amazing through this whole adoption. In fact, Allyson now has a full sister! Elizabeth and Jason had another baby girl in April 2006 - she looks just like Allyson!

Well, now on to our next adoption story. When Ally turned 15 months old we decided, let's do this again! Knowing it could take much longer, or it could go faster. We were just ready! We decided to work with an agency this time. We attended the required meetings, wrote another birthmother letter (much harder this time) and our letter was being shown to birthparents in April of 2004.

We had many contacts, a lot of scams (which were very disappointing) and several failed matches. We were then matched with a birthmother from Colorado, Cathy, in December 2004. We flew her out to stay with us, and then went to visit her, with her mom and sister, in April of 2005. At that time we could tell things were not right! Cathy became very distant and withdrawn. Something so opposite of what she was doing! We all decided in May of 2005, to un-match. The baby was due, in June 2005. We had even chosen the name Samantha. We were devastated! Back on the list again!

The agency called to inform us that, since a year had gone by without a match, we were eligible to be placed on the Last Minute Hospital list. We chose to do so, knowing in our hearts, this meant we could be chosen at any time and we had to be ready! Well we went on, and were contacted by another birthmother named Karen, and we communicated with her for three months. She could never commit, so we decided to also un-match with her. Now it was September 2005, then October, then November, Allyson was three!

In late November 2005, Bill's mom was diagnosed with lung cancer and was scheduled for surgery on December 9th 2005. Her surgery went very well and she is now cancer free! On December 13, 2005, Bill and I were taking Ally to school, then we were on our way to the hospital to see my mother-in-law, when my cell phone rang...It was the agency saying, Hi Tracy, are you ready to be parents today? We have a birthmother who has chosen you to adopt her baby girl! She was 20 minutes away from us. They said to be at the hospital ASAP! We rushed home to get a car seat because the baby was being discharged that day! We stopped by a florist and bought flowers for Sarah, the birthmother. We called everyone telling them our news!

We walked into Sarah's room and knew right away, THIS WAS IT! We were elated! We loved Sarah from the beginning and she called us mommy and daddy from the minute we walked into her room! She was AMAZING! She had hidden her pregnancy from her parents, and was such a brave 19 year old girl (her parents now know and are super supportive). We stayed all day with Sarah, and our daughter, who we named Julie Anne! We were discharged at 4:00 pm and said our goodbye's to Sarah as she gave Julie a kiss on her forehead and said, Always know how much I love you! I am giving you life in so many ways! She told Julie, Thank you for letting me carry you and hold you as you are my angel. I cry writing this! She handed Julie to us and said, Merry Christmas to you both and I love you too. Thank you guys for giving her what I can't! Wow! We all cried - but out of joy!

We drove Julie home that afternoon (she was three days old), and introduced her to Allyson - THE BIG SISTER! As Ally walked in the house and saw me holding Julie she said, Mommy who is that?! I proudly said, This is your sister!

Sarah signed the relinquishment paperwork the next day and called us to say, She is all yours! Congratulations! We feel very close to her too, in fact we just had lunch with her and her family the other day! We see her often. We are like sisters! We now know this is why the other matches did not work out!

Thanks a lot for letting me share my story!

Written by Tracy McQuaid - July 2006

Proud mommy to Allyson Eryn and Julie Anne

Birthparent names have been changed to respect their privacy.