Adoption photos: The moment I became a mom

Apr 29, 2013 7:00 AM by Laura Willard

Posted in Parenting / Parenting Tips & Advice / Adoption

Moms Meeting Their Babies For The First Time

For moms whose families were created or expanded through adoption, few things are as emotional as meeting her child for the first time. In honor of Mother's Day, we've gathered special photos of those first moments – a precious few seconds shared between a mom and the newest member of her family.

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Laura, pictured with Molley, who was born in Ethiopia

Laura and Molley's adoption photo

"It's hard to put into words what I felt when I first met Molley. I was so overwhelmed and unprepared. I was already a mom, but it was like doing it all over again – for the first time. I'm not sure what I expected, but I didn't know it would happen so quickly. A driver picked us up from the airport in Ethiopia, took us to our guest house and then all of the sudden, I was in the baby room and a nanny handed Molley to me. She was so much smaller than I thought she'd be – and even more beautiful. She was precious and uncertain. I didn't want her to feel afraid. She looked everywhere but at me, so I blew a raspberry on her tummy. Moll put her sweet little hands on my cheeks and laughed. And then she held onto me and never let go.

It's like she knew – she knew I was her mom then and she was going to make sure I remained so. For six months, she didn't want anyone else to hold her. She didn't want me out of her sight. I promised her I'd always be her mom, but it took her a while to believe me, understandably so.

It has been three years and three weeks since that day and now she knows. She talks about her mom in Ethiopia, too, with such confidence. I'm so proud of her. Molley is secure and self-assured and happy and too smart for my own good. I hope she always knows how grateful I am to be her mom. I love her more than life itself."

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Tags: adoption mother's day

Comments

Comments on "Adoption photos: The moment I became a mom"

Actually I DO think adoptions are pbiulc at least adoptions through the state are (aka when a child is adopted through foster care). I am not sure about private adoptions. I would suggest contacting the social worker for that case if you have that information or you could try calling the COUNTY in which the adoption took place and ask them if the records are pbiulc and, if so, where you can find them.

Thanks for making this alvalabie to all of us to read your sweet journey. I am praying you will continue to have peace and wait for that baby that God wants to give you through adoption. Love, Cindy and Jim J.

And thank you ladies for your encouraging comments! I loved pulling this together. I don't do as much adoption writing any more, but I enjoyed this - and it was mostly others' writing. :)

Hi Perigee, Thank you for your thoughtful comment. I'd love to feature a gallery like you suggested. Adoption is multi-faceted and there is much more to it than living happily ever after. This gallery simply focused on a brief few minutes of a lifelong journey. Would you be willing to contact me about helping gathering photos and stories as you suggested? Also, please know that I feel strongly about presenting the different parts of adoption as much as possible. Last Mother's Day, I wrote an article about honoring an adoptive mom to be on Mother's Day as well as one on ways to honor a birth mom on Mother's Day: http://www.sheknows/holidays-and-seasons/articles/829705/honoring-a-birth-mom-on-mothers-day I hope to hear form you and thank you again for stopping by and commenting!

Thank you for putting together this beautiful slideshow. Please consider doing a slideshow of natural mothers (first mothers/birth mothers) reuniting with their surrendered children years after placement. I am very happy for these adoptive mothers, and especially proud of the ones who can admit that their gain as an adoptive parent involved a measure of loss (for the child who will not know their biological family, and for the international adoptees, the loss of their ethnic identity). I also think that it is important to show that adoption is not simply "and then I was a mom and we all lived happily ever after!" tale. Some adoptees will miss and seek out their first parents, and most first mothers will spend the rest of their lives missing and longing for the children they surrendered.

@Meg I had the same epiphany! I too decided that I wanted to adopt while still in high school. I cannot wait until I am in a position to make that dream come true!

Beautiful!

I don't remember what triggered it, but in high school I decided I wanted to adopt at least one child. I am 28 and single, and I am excited for the day I can make my adoption dreams a reality - whether I have a husband and biological kids in the picture, or not. Thank you for sharing this great piece and for the mothers/families to share these intimate stories and photos!

What wonderful Mother's Day tribute. How universal it is that no matter how it occurs, a woman, a child, call the woman mother and the child son or my daughter and let love and bonding begin again and again and again. As you have shown here in these wonderful stories, it doesn't matter how or the distance or the , the miracle and the magic occurs.

Hands-down one of the most precious, touching Mother's Day stories. Ever. Thank you all so much for sharing! Now excuse me while I wipe the tears off my keyboard...

Awesome! Those moments are precious.

I was adopted as an infant, and I love seeing stories like this about positive adoption experiences. Thanks so much to all of the mothers in these photos for sharing them and their stories.