Kelsey & Nick's Story

Adoption has been a part of Nick’s life. His father and aunt were adopted as newborns. The love and unconditional acceptance that his family shows for one another is a guiding light for us in our own path of adoption. We decided long ago when we were dating that we would one day adopt a child. We felt that at this point in our lives we were ready!

We were excited and nervous when we first heard a birth mom wanted to interview us. Just to hear her speak and have her ask us questions was great. We felt like we really connected in that first phone call. She sounded very sweet. We felt a lot of empathy for her and her difficult decision to make an adoption plan.

We first met Danielle when we traveled to meet her as part of the adoption process. The first ten minutes were spent with all of us being very nervous. However, after we broke the ice we relaxed as we shared stories about our favorite music and vacations. By the time we left the restaurant we felt we had a good connection with Danielle and were excited for the future.

Going through this process we were nervous about the mother changing her mind. When we saw Danielle for the first time all of our concerns subsided. We enjoyed the openness between her and ourselves. Originally we didn’t know what to expect about an open adoption until we met Danielle. We really enjoyed communications with her and we looked forward to starting this new relationship with her. She deserves to know how her child is doing. It broke our hearts when she cried as she left the hospital.

We saw Danielle again at Nolan’s first appointment. We had lunch before going to the appointment together. This time no one cried.

Our advice to future adoptive parents, don’t be afraid of open communication plans. We have found it to be a sweet surprise and we can’t imagine having it any other way. We would like to encourage others to learn about the advantages of open communications.

Kelsey and Nick
Iowa City, IA