Geoff & Sue

The call came, appropriately enough, in the parking lot of Babies R Us: Our baby girl had been born! She surprised everyone by coming far earlier than predicted. I was at the store checking out car seats since we needed to have one for our home study. The amazing array of choices was bewildering and I walked out thinking, oh well, I have time to decide what to buy… Suddenly that call came in and everything changed – my husband Geoff and I had to leap into action!

When we had our first meeting with our Consultant she gave us a great overview of the process and explained how ANLC would help us. We had talked to other adoption entities and liked how ANLC did things. When we asked that anxious question that everyone must ask, “How long will we have to wait?” Our Consultant told us – with a twinkle in her eye – “Well, I can’t make any promises, but I don’t think you’ll wait very long…” It was a classic case of “be careful what you wish for,” because before we knew it the call came. Within weeks we had been selected by a birth mother in Kentucky, and she was due in less than 3 months. Soon we learned that our birth mother had a complication that meant she would be delivering the baby a month early – and then our already accelerated timeline moved ahead even faster when our little girl decided she was ready to be born, 7 weeks ahead of schedule! This would be our first child after years of infertility so we were ecstatic to be chosen so quickly, but also in a panic because we were in no way ready for a baby. We scrambled to complete our home study and all the application paperwork. Fortunately the agency that ANLC put us in touch with, was great to work with and they helped make sure everything got done on time. The adoption attorney in Kentucky who ANLC connected us with sent another huge set of forms and helped us get the KY documents done (we were still completing forms in the car on the way to the hospital to meet our new daughter!). Eventually the seemingly endless pile of paperwork and the long honey-do list melted away and we were on our way to our dream of becoming parents.

It started off a little scary. With Maddy born 7 weeks early and more than 2,000 miles away we were excited but apprehensive. Was the baby ok? What should we do? Who could help us? ANLC calmly talked us through the process and helped us understand what would/could happen, how others had managed with their premature babies, what to expect and what questions to ask. We felt confident that we were making the right decision to adopt Maddy and made our way to Kentucky right away. While attending to Maddy in the neonatal ICU unit, the ANLC legal team were amazing, helping us get Maddy covered by our health insurance, getting our CA paperwork completed and working with our wonderful attorney in Kentucky. While we concentrated on bonding with our new daughter, the ANLC team was behind us every step of the way making sure everything went smoothly. Our KY and CA paperwork cleared in record time and by the time Maddy was released from the hospital, happy and healthy at only 2 weeks old and just 4 pounds, our paperwork was done and we were ready to go home!

Our CA adoption hearing also came in record time and before we knew it we were in court with an ANLC lawyer calmly talking us through all the steps – she even knew the judge. It all happened so fast. We were the first ones called into the courtroom and before we knew it, we were signed, sealed, and delivered – Maddy was ours! We can’t thank ANLC enough for their expertise, compassion, experience, and guidance throughout the whole process. It was overwhelming and confusing at times and we could not have done it without them. We are now loving every minute with our sweet little girl, she is the light of our lives and we so thankful to ANLC for helping make us a family!

Written by Jason Granillo