April 16, 2008
There are 133 million births each year. That is 247 births every minute, or four babies born every second. Each year in the
After the narrator finishes talking, she will be walking down the hospital halls to a birthing room where she will peek her head in and see a woman giving her son to a couple. Then she will say,
It takes courage, dignity and an unselfish person to love their baby so much to want to give him or her a better life. Not every adoption case is that way, but this one is and many are. Though there is a long process, adoption can be a miraculous thing. The giving of a human life to a couple whom really wants to take care and raise a child is not only a difficult step for a biological family, but a proud moment. There is no telling what brought these two families together, no way to know what the future will bring either… for we are just a set of eyes watching from the doorway. We are just a passerby.
First interview: Nicole Lester and husband adopted Nicole’s younger sisters’ baby after hearing she was pregnant. The camera will show Nicole and her husband playing with Jane in a park then it will cut to a bench where the interview will take place.
“Since we first got married we always wanted to have children. We found out in the first 2 yrs we couldn’t have children. After trying fertility treatments and no successes we decided to adopt. We proceeded with adoption and Jane was born on March 17, 1996 and we adopted her 6 months later. The day we brought her home was really emotional. I felt as thought I was stealing this perfect child...but the birthmother told us..."she is a gift," and she is right! We have an open adoption. She and the birthfather visit 3 or 4 times a month. I cannot predict the future, but so far this has been wonderful. I think the key to a successful open adoption is keeping in mind what is the BEST for the child. To all birthmothers, I commend you for having the courage to choose a life for your child that you cannot provide at a given moment. It is with the utmost love and unselfishness that such a decision is made.” (Lester)
Second interview: Leslie Carwright will be show caring for her baby at home then cut to the living room for the interview.
“We wanted the baby God had planned for us, and in the end we know that she was created just for us! We definitely wanted her needs to be taken care of; after all, she was carrying a child that she would soon entrust to us, and call us her parents. The gift she was giving us was so pure and sweet and done with so much strength, maturity and love, that we wanted to mirror our deep heartfelt gratitude back to her for the precious gift she was giving us, her baby, now our daughter, and yes, even her own self. God brought us together over an internet lead, which led to a meeting and that lead to a match meeting with our birth mom. She chose a semi open adoption plan, and wanted us to be able to be at appointments as we wanted to be, and the birthing was untouched as it needed to be her choice, which she ultimately chose to have us there, and we were so very glad because we were the first to hold and feed our baby girl, and we were able to be there for our dear birth mom and help meet her needs and share with her on this special day that she brought our daughter into this world! It was a beautiful time that we anticipate sharing with our daughter when the time is right, though we plan to plant seeds about her adoption from the beginning.” (Carwright)
The camera will then cut to the narrator sitting in an adoption agency as she says,
Most adoptions happen through agencies. There are steps that are taken to make sure the birth parents choose a family they feel will take care of their unborn child the best. There are letters that can be read, pictures to be seen, names to scan over, biographies and in some instances a meeting is set up.
“Children leave one family and join another... They experience changes, they adjust, they grow, they learn, they love, they grieve, they wonder, they question, they know, adoption is forever, a part of who they are.” (The Family and Children’s Society)
After that interview is finished, the camera will cut to a teenage girls’ bedroom with the song “Clocks” by Coldplay playing the background. After a minute of the song playing, the camera will show the teenage girl in the corner reading her diary aloud:
“Sometimes I do joke about things. Like my mother’s obsession with having Sparkling Grape Juice every New Years Eve even after I became the legal age for drinking, or my father’s way of saying his brains are leaking through his head because of a mole or something that is on his skull, or my sister Shannon’s way teaching me how drink liquor at age 11. There are just some things I do not joke about however. Such as, Coldplay is the best band ever, and pregnancy with a side of adoption.
I never was the one that was popular in school. I wore jeans outdated by centuries, shits that had weird sayings on them like, “There's a lot of stuff in hot dogs.” No one really liked it, not even Andrea Simmons, my best friend who wore the matching shirt just to make me happy once. I am not a geek in high school. I don’t like the communications kids who are all about the audio visual department. I am not a nerd either. I don’t hang out in the library working on other people’s homework while mine sits to collect dust and eventually ends up with a C- or D on the top in red ink with a note attached saying, “See me after class.” I am not preppy. I didn’t not try out for cheerleading any season just so that the male ‘ya-ya-shish-boom-ba’ ones could put me in the air for a pyramid to sneak a peek at my cash and prizes under my skirt. However, I did make the squad for one season and only was base, flying was out of my league. I guess I am not in a clique in school. I am just trying to make it through without a bunch of unneeded drama.
However, yesterday I found out I was pregnant. Talk about High School drama! ”
At that time, the girl will move to her bed where she says,
“That was my life, my reality… four years ago when I was 19-years-old. I came out of a bad relationship, thought I was ready to move on -- until I peed on that $20.00 stick that held the answer to my future. And as I suspected, the lines showed… and I was pregnant. I remember throwing it at my best friend who was there for moral support. I hated the result and was ready to sue CVS and e.p.t.® Pregnancy Test because I was certain the test was wrong. For CVS, it was a how-dare-you-sell-me-a-defective-pregnancy-test thing.
To make a long story short and I can guarantee it would be long; I had a baby 9 months later. Everyone I wanted there was there. My mom, me, the nurse, the midwife… and a lovely couple I would end up treasuring for the rest of my life. Chad and Christina; they stood there, one holding my hand as I screamed in pain, the other biting her nails as she watched her son be born.
At 2:22am on rainy Monday morning in July, Ethan was born.”
At that time, the girl will begin to tell us the details of her pregnancy and adoption.
“It was scary; there is no doubt about that. I think that any unplanned pregnancy is scary no matter what the circumstances or nature of how it happened is. I don’t think what scared me most was the fact that I was still only a senior in high school and that I would be graduating eight months pregnant, I think it was the feeling of letting down people like my mother. Her find out that I was not as responsible as I had led myself on to be and that now I was stuck in a position where I had to be adult and figure out what would be best for my unborn baby.
I laid the options out in my head and went through them one by one. Wondering why I made the choices I did, thinking how stupid I was for believe the father of this baby loved me, and how ridiculous I would look in maternity jeans with elastic waists. My options were all the same as everyone else’s who has ever been in my position. 1. Keep the baby and raise it, 2. Adoption and 3. Abortion (and no matter how many times I said this list to myself, abortion always seemed not to be an option for me.)
I don’t think I came to the realization that I couldn’t keep the baby, I think it was already a commonsense kind of thing. There was no way I could do that, I was not fit to be a mother and not ready to play “house.”
Adoption became not only my selection, but a whole new and scary experience for me. I don’t know how I choose
I remember telling them I was pregnant, and two seconds later after that, we were all agreeing they would adopt. I am sure they remember the day more precisely, but to me the details are vague.
Now that I think about it, the nine months went fast and my belly grew so much it looked like I had eaten 50 watermelons whole. They were there for me the whole time. Accompanying me to the doctors and ultra sounds, paying for all the bills and making sure I got what I needed. The day of the delivery came fast and went fast. I can’t believe it has been almost four years ago when I held that little boy Ethan in my arms and told him he would have the best parents and life he could ask for. I meant that when I said it to him, and I was right. He has the family he deserved… the one I couldn’t give him.
I just hope he understands.”
At that time, a montage of pictures will begin. Each time the montage changes, there will be two pictures, one of the baby with the biological family and one with the adoptive family, after about 5 of those, there will be pictures of kids waiting to be adopted while the song “FROM GOD'S ARMS TO MY ARMS TO YOURS” will be playing. At the end of the montage, a list of adoption services will run through with the following for
Family & Children's Society: Counseling & Adoption Services
- www.familycs.org - (607) 729-6206
All Woman’s Help Center
- (607) 723-3342
New Hope Family Services
- www.newhopefamilyservices.com- (315) 448-2300
Catholic Charities of Broome: Pregnancy Parenting & Adoption
- www.catholiccharitiesbc.org - (607) 729-9166
For places and services in your area, type ‘adoption services’ and your city and state in Google.
The music will fade and the credits will roll.
Work Cited
Atkinson, Jeff. The American Bar Association GUIDE TO FAMILY LAW.
House, 1996.
Carwright, Leslie. Interview. 26 March 2008
Lester, Nicole. Interview. 5 April 2008
The Family and Children’s Society. http://www.familycs.org/program.aspx?pID=42&sID=2.
5 April 2008
FROM GOD'S ARMS TO MY ARMS TO YOURS
With so many wrong decisions in my past, I'm not quite sure.
If I can ever hope to trust my judgment anymore.
But lately I've been thinking, 'cause it's all I've had to do.
And in my heart I feel that I should give this child to you.
[Chorus]
And maybe, you can tell your baby when you love him so that he's been loved before.
By someone who delivered your son, From God's arms to my arm's to yours.
Now if you choose to tell him and if he wants to know.
How the one who gave him life could bear to let him go.
Just tell him there were sleepless nights I prayed and paced the floors.
And knew the only peace I'd find is if this child was yours.
{Repeat Chorus}
Now I know you don't have to do this, but could you kiss him once for me?
The first time that he ties his shoes or falls and skins his knee,
And could you hold him twice as long when he makes his mistakes.
Tell him that he's not alone, sometimes that's all it takes -
I know how much he'll ache.
This may not be the answer for another girl like me.
And I'm not on a soapbox saying how we all should be.
I'm just trusting in my feelings and I'm trusting God above.
And I'm trusting you can give our baby both his mother's love.
{Repeat Chorus}
Lyrics and music is copyrighted by Michael McLean.
The song's original album is called "One Heart in the
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