Grafted: An Adoption Story

by Kristin Parrish, Nichole Lowery (Illustrator)

Nothing gives me more joy than seeing my two sons smiling. They do not look alike and neither look like me. They have not a drop of blood in common with each other; Or with me. They are adopted and this book is our story. My husband and I have experienced some of the most amazing and joyful moments that can come from creating a family this way, as well as some of the most devastating. We were in the room, my husband cut the cord and a professional photographer was present when our first son was born. We kept up with more communication that his birth mother requested because we loved her so much. We have a beautiful, intelligent son because of her.Two years later, she asked us to parent again early in her pregnancy. This time, instead of a warm welcome, she refused to see or speak to us. We sat in a cold waiting room until we were asked to leave the hospital. We found out via social media she planned on parenting. We entered that hospital, where all the amazing memories of our son were, as expectant parents. We left that hospital as parents who lost a child we had a prayed for and hoped for for months. Our son lost his brother. While we understood her right to chose, we were absolutely devastated. With the cost of adoption, it looked like we may not be able to even try again. It was as though we were losing our chance at ever having another baby.Through generosity and blessings less than two months later we got another chance. I got a call from a birth mother asking us to parent her child she was having that night in another state. This call would start a roller coaster of events that would have twists and turns every day for over a month until we were able to come home with our youngest son. Adoption is a lot of things. It's beautiful, amazing and the only way I could ever have become a mother. It's also heartbreaking and complicated. For adoptive parents, it is expensive and difficult, too. We experienced kindness, generosity, ignorance and hostility.This is the story of how our family of two became a family of four. Like branches of other trees being grafted to our own, our family was tied together with love, destined to grow together.

263 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 3, 2019

Reviews

[Tanis · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars because I am the 'stranger' the author hugged in the post office found at 12% on my Kindle download. This is her journal of their adoption highs and lows. The story gets a bit long but I read it to the end.