A New Birth, Part I

Before I begin, let me say that I in no way am trying to judge the decisions that other people have made in similar circumstances. Like the old song says, "walk a mile in my shoes".
When my wife and I were sophomores in college, she became pregnant. We had no money, and no job skills. We both had loving families, but we knew we were not ready to get married.
Abortion was an option "on paper", but was never really an option for us. We decided that we would give the baby up for adoption. She contacted a church adoption agency, and we decided to do an open adoption. We arranged for a couple in San Diego to adopt our child. However, several months before she was born, the couple had a chance to adopt another baby. They then realized how much work one child was, and decided they could not handle two so young.
My future wife had gone home to send the summer and fall there before she gave birth. I still remember vividly the night she called and said the couple had backed out. It was a long weekend until we could talk to the agency again. They assured us that plenty of wonderful couples would love to have our child, and they sent us letters and pictures that the couples had submitted.
One couple, this time from San Francisco, really stood out. She was a nurse, he was a medical professional, and they struck us as the kind of folks we wanted to be 10 or 20 years down the road. We called and talked to them, and felt they would be good parents.
When the time came for the birth, my wife and her mom flew out to San Francisco, so that the couple could be there when the baby was born. She and her mom stayed for a few days after the birth, then flew back home.
We talked with the couple a few times each year, and they usually sent a set of pictures to us each year. When our birth daughter turned 18, she and her dad flew out to Virginia to meet us.
More about that tomorrow in part II.
Someone at church, unaware of our history, once made the comment that she did not understand how "anyone who loved their baby could give it up for adoption". She meant no harm, she just felt puzzled that anyone could do that. My reply was simply "sometimes you love your baby enough to realize you cannot take care of them as you should."
And please remember this: Our baby was NEVER a mistake; the only mistake was our poor planning and failure to wait.
I look forward to sharing about meeting her tomorrow.
Have a blessed day!