For those couples just beginning their journey to parenthood, the thought of meeting and getting to know a birth parent can be daunting. Although we at AAI work tirelessly to help our waiting families understand the complexities and the wide range of emotions when connecting to birth parents, many feel challenged at the thought of having some sort of relationship with a birth family. The highlight of this newsletter will be to help enlighten waiting couples, and even those community organizations that AAI partners with to serve women in crisis pregnancies. We have decided to do so by sharing some wonderful videos that are available now from birth parents, about birth parents, and an adoptee. So, grab a cup of coffee, sit back and enjoy.
TOGETHER WE ARE MOTHERHOOD
Two women come together; one pregnant, afraid, unprepared and the other yearning, waiting to become a mother. One gives life, the other teaches the art of living. But the gift of the Bravest Love, allows one to begin to see her future, and the other to become a mother. Together they are indeed motherhood.
https://www.bravelove.org/together
DECISION MAKING
Why do women make an adoption plan? What are the reasons that move them forward? What compels them to continue to feel positive about their plan? What do adoptees think about being adopted, and more, what do they think about their birth parents? Listen as three women share their stories, and three adoptees talk about how it has impacted their lives.
https://www.bravelove.org/bravelove_interviews
THE GIFT
The underlying theme for birth parents making an adoption decision is love. This next film speaks so dearly of the bittersweet decision to find a family, though late in her pregnancy. Two families come together, and celebrate the gift that the birthmother hopes her daughter will appreciate, as well as the knowledge that she came from a family who loved her too.
https://www.bravelove.org/the_gift
TO MY DAUGHTER’S FIRST MOTHER
Each of us who have worked with birth parents appreciate adoptive parents who understand the depth of the love that is behind a woman making an adoption plan. This adoptive father hopes to assure his daughter’s birth mother that she will always be honored in their home, and never, ever will she be forgotten.
https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1IGjDepkSiSbr9DDuQq66hSnedF9ROJZM
I LIVED ON PARKER AVE
A young man looks back on the decision made by his birth mother 19 years ago as he travels to meet her. Always wondering, questioning why, he makes his journey to discovery as his birth mother reflects on the choices and decisions that separated them, and then brought them back together.
https://www.bravelove.org/parker_avenue
These women are courageous, and brave. They are to be honored and respected. The love they have for their babies by planning adoption is the ultimate gift they could give a child. Not only did they make difficult decisions, they agreed to share their experiences with others. That is not always easy to do.