Lisa's Story - BraveLove

Last month was National Adoption Month and I was finally given the courage to share my story.

I will never forget the day when I decided to place my child in the hands of someone else. I thought giving birth was hard, I thought going into the army was hard, but placing a child for adoption has got to be the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. There were so many thoughts going through my head when I searched through the profiles for a family to care for my baby girl. Many people will never understand how I could place her for adoption and that's ok because this was my journey and this is my testimony.

All I ask is that you read it and share if you like...

Twenty years ago I became a birth mother. I gave birth by C-section to a healthy 7 pound and 10 ounces bouncing baby girl on August 5, 2002. I did so knowing that I was entering a semi-open adoption. When I interviewed the loving couple that I chose to raise my little girl, I told them that I had only one request and that was to give her a name. They agreed and I named her Jasmine. Because it was a semi-open adoption I knew that I would receive updates and pictures of Jasmine as she grew up to become a beautiful young woman.

The process of adoption was difficult because I needed to find loving parents to raise my daughter. Someone who shared my beliefs and core values. Someone who could give her everything that I couldn't. Someone who would love her with all of their heart, be there for her when she cried, pick her up when she fell, and teach her right from wrong.

I interviewed four parents, and I found the perfect family for my baby girl. I have no regrets. Many of us have birthdays, but my daughter has two celebrations...she has her birthday and her adoption day celebration, which was the day I placed her in the arms of her loving parents. I exhaled that day because I was able to say my mission of being a birth mother was complete!

After placing Jasmine for adoption I joined the Army. I served my country overseas in Iraq during the war.

I have since then graduated with two college degrees, graduated summa cum laude and currently working on my MBA at SNHU. I have grown to be a successful woman, and I have been blessed with another child. This time a boy - his name is CJ and he just turned 8. I remember having to to tell my daughter Courtney (who will be 25 this month) that I placed her half-sister for adoption. She has been very understanding, but as she has gotten older she has questioned me often about how her sister is doing and where she is. I am always able to provide her with an update and a picture. She hopes to meet her one day, as I do also.

I have received many updates and pictures of Jasmine, and I was amazed how much she looked like me and my daughter Courtney. Her adoptive mother shared some of her characteristics as well, and she's a lot like me. It brought tears to my eyes but it also put joy in my heart.

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