"I had a year left in high school, and I didn't think I'd be able to give the baby enough time, and I wouldn't have any money for all the things I'd want to give him. I never even considered abortion, but I wasn't comfortable with the idea of giving the baby up and not knowing where it would be. I hadn't even heard of it (open adoption). I didn't know you could choose the parents and meet and talk to them. It's really neat."
TRISH, NOW 18 YEARS OLD
"I feel adoption has made me stronger, more mature and self reliant. It has helped me to deal with other life experiences in a more positive manner."
MARK, 30 YEAR OLD ADOPTED PERSON
"As an adopted child I wish to say thank you to everyone who made it possible for me to be where I am now. When I was 12 days old, I was adopted by two loving people. Had it not been for Children's Home Society, I don't know where I'd be now. Please consider this a thank you from a grateful child."
RACHEL, 11 YEARS OLD
"I thought I could make it, but no one showed up to help me. The stuff she needs and deserves I can never give her. She's still young and I can't even buy her a 75 cent ice cream cone."
SINGLE MOTHER MAKING AN ADOPTION PLAN FOR HER 3-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER
"Adoption is better than the other alternatives."
JOHN, 28 YEAR OLD ADOPTED PERSON
"We want you to know how much you are loved. If love was the only thing needed to raise and take care of a child, your young birth parents had more than enough for you, but unfortunately at barely 15 and 17, they could not provide anything else." "We feel God answered our prayers when we met Tom, Maria, and their little daughter Regina. Mike and Joy (the birth parents) needed time to become adults and find out in what direction each of their lives would lead."
BIOLOGICAL GRANDPARENTS TO CHILD PLACED FOR ADOPTION
"The hardest thing I've probably ever done is placing you for adoption. But you deserve a better life than I've had. I want you to know that I love you very much. I also want you to know that I'll never ever forget about you."
BIRTH MOTHER TO HER CHILD
"After the shock wore off, Adam and I reviewed our limited options with a tremendous amount of discussion, research and soul-searching. Although we are passionately pro-choice, it seemed impossible that we could abort the child we had created together. So what to do?. . . Adoption is an option; it is a choice. I am thankful to have had the freedom to choose – the process itself was enormously empowering, as I believe it can and should be for everyone who chooses it."
FROM "KRISTINA'S STORY" PUBLISHED IN AOCI REPORTS