Scott and Lindsey Adopt: What Led Us to Open Adoption

We made the decision to adopt shortly after the birth of our son Peter. His delivery went smoothly, and Peter came into the world healthy and without complication. Lindsey, however, experienced serious complications when she began to hemorrhage. After 8 hours in the Operating Room, she arrested. The doctors performed CPR and an emergency hysterectomy. She was on life support for two weeks before beginning the long road of recovery from heart and respiratory failure brought on by various complications during the course of her hospital stay.

This was a challenge we are truly grateful for. We were grateful then, and our understanding and insight into that experience has grown tremendously in the years since. Not only did we feel the dedicated love of our family members, friends, church community, and neighbors encircled around us, but we very tangibly felt the unfailing love of the Lord. We have faith in His plan and timing. We are stronger and better prepared for the challenges we will meet in the future. Everything we have been through has touched and unified our immediate and extended families, leaving our kids with an outpouring of attentive love.

Peter paid us a short visit in the ICU

Lindsey woke from her surgery knowing without hesitation that adoption was the Lord's plan for our family. It was spiritual experience that fueled the hope and excitement we have toward adoption in our future. Nineteen months later, we found ourselves in the midst of another great miracle: we brought our beautiful daughter Brooklyn home from the hospital and opened our family and hearts to even more love. We are thrilled to have close, open relationships with Brooklyn's birth mom, birth dad, and extended birth family. We love every chance we get to spend time together. Brooklyn and open adoption have brought us together and unified us in the most amazing ways. We can't imagine our family without them in it. Brooklyn, and our entire family, will never be in doubt of their love.

Just moments after Brooklyn made her debut. She looks at this picture often, and we talk about how everyone in the picture (and more people not pictured) loves her guts. That we are a team. And that we are all cheering her on together.

Open adoption has completely taken us by surprise. We love it more than we could have known. Our family grew--not just by the incomparable blessing of Brooklyn-- but by her wonderful birth family that has become our own through this journey. We love having them to our home, baby blessings, dance recitals, soccer games, the park, or simply grabbing a bite to eat together. A lot of mail and packages keep us connected with birth family far away, and our kids are spoiled rotten at Christmas and birthdays! Brooklyn's birth mom planned and executed a Minnie Mouse birthday party when Brooklyn turned two that filled Lindsey's mama heart with overwhelming love. And watching Brooklyn walk arm-in-arm with her birth uncle at her birthmom's wedding as the flowergirl was unforgettable.

We decided we were ready to figure out what was next for our family when Lindsey reconnected with an old friend at a baby shower. The subject of growing our family came up, and this friend (with four children of her own) offered to be a surrogate and help us grow our family. It's impossible to explain the love and admiration that came when she offered such a selfless gift. We had only ever seen love like that once before, and it was the love of Brooklyn's birthparents when they selflessly placed her in our arms a couple years before.

We couldn't have predicted that our family would grow in the way it has, but we wouldn't change a thing. We feel like the absolutely luckiest. Just before Brooklyn's third birthday, we were holding our twins, Maren and George, in our arms. Our family grew again-- not just by these miracles babies-- but by the loving family that helped us bring them here. Our kids gained four new cousins that day and a new aunt and uncle that have changed our family and lives for the better. Our hearts have opened and stretched again and again. We love getting together for dinner, watching each other's kids, and taking trips together. We sincerely cannot believe that we were ever without our birthfamily and surrogate family.

Just moments before Maren and George came earthside. The love we have for these priceless friends is indescribable.

We are a family that talks about things. Our kids know their stories. They are proud of them. They know we are proud of them. They know they are loved by many. There's always room for more love and the people who give it.

Shortly after Maren and George were born, Brooklyn's birthmom offered to take Peter and Brooklyn to the aquarium to get them out of the house while Lindsey was home with the babies. They had the greatest time! When she brought them home, our surrogate was there dropping off some milk for Maren and George (she had offered to pump milk for them for four months to help them grow and catch up since they were premature). These women brought our babies to this earth. They are so loved in our family.