Greetings from San Antonio!
Happy New Year! I hope you all enjoyed a relaxing and joyous holiday season.
After a wonderful Christmas and New Year break during which time you may have
noticed that the office was closed for a few days, the A.S.A. staff is back
feeling refreshed and looking forward to a wonderfully productive 2003. Though
the office was "technically" closed for several days during the latter part
of December, babies continued to be born, and there were, of course, staff
members on-call twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
One of our counselors even facilitated a relinquishment and subsequent placement on Christmas Day! As I've often said, there's never a dull moment at A.S.A.!
On December 23rd, A.S.A. hosted a holiday party for all the birth parents and their children who reside in the San Antonio area. It was a "full house", to say the least, and everyone seemed to have a terrific time tearing into their gifts and feasting on the delicious food provided pot-luck-style by the A.S.A. staff.
Because of the overall hectic nature of the months of November and December, we didn't release our regularly scheduled newsletters during the holidays. We're now back on schedule, and thrilled to share the fantastic news of the A.S.A. family's most recent births!
Congratulations!
What did my fingers do before they held him? What did my heart do with its love? I have never seen a thing so clear. His lids are like the lilac-flower, And soft as a moth, his breath. I shall not let go. --Sylvia Plath
DOMESTIC ADOPTIONS:
Chris and Michael welcomed their son, Joseph Miguel, into the family…his big sister, Charlie, loves him to pieces!
Hayley Marie met her new parents, Anthony and Helen, and is much loved by her big sis, Alexandra,
Kassandra Joy Dina is a true joy to her parents, Steve and Fanny!
Allen and Lisa were thrilled to meet their new son, Mark Ian…
Sasha Charli met her big sister, Nicole, and parents Siobhan and Pat are looking forward to raising their two precious daughters…
Shelley and Nick were gifted with a precious baby girl, Josephine Cole, whom they dearly love…
Daniel and Alison welcomed their first child, a son, Dillon Tyler, and thought he was the best Christmas present they'd ever received!
Julia Michelina is the second daughter for proud parents David and Rosana….Allesia is the proud big sister! This was the family's second A.S.A. adoption.
Gail and Philip warmly welcomed their first child, Sophia Grace, into their family over the Thanksgiving holiday….what a blessing!
Peter Henry carried on the family name and is much loved by his proud parents, Henry and Dierdre…
Little Ruben is Irene and Ruben's second child…he is adored by his big sis, Iyana, who joined the family last year! This was the family's second A.S.A. adoption…
Daniel and Stefanie welcomed their precious baby daughter, Julia Meriel, into their family during the Christmas holiday…what a gift!
Alanagh Aisling was a true gift to her parents, Alan and Mary, during this extra-joyous holiday season!
Sweet little Samuel Tate joined his parents, Lloyd and Kim, and big sister, Mia, just before they rang in the New Year!
Marc and Amy welcomed their second son, Max Joseph, to their family…his big brother, Sol, couldn't be more proud… This was their second A.S.A. adoption!
Meet Our Staff…
This month I'd like to introduce an integral member of A.S.A.'s Accounting Staff, Lupe Rizo…in her own words…
I am the Accounting Manager for A.S.A. and have been blessed to be a part of the greatest staff on earth for four years! I hold an Associate's degree in Business Administration and Accounting with a minor in Spanish. In my professional career I have worked in the retail business and at one time managed a specialty store. I find an immense amount of satisfaction in working with people.
After enduring major surgery, I decided to go back to school in order to pursue an office position, the type of work that I enjoyed, since I seem to have a natural affinity for Accounting. I moved from a small town to San Antonio 22 years ago and that was the best move of my life! I worked for 15 years as a Business Manager of a nursing agency, but luck and fate brought me to A.S.A. and this has been the best move I have made in my career. I find such gigantic rewards in what goes on in the adoption process.
In my position, I focus on maintaining accounts, bank reconciliations, I.R.A. reports, accounts receivable and payable, payroll, estimates, financial statements, and maintain all records for State inspections and audits.
Aside from all of the above duties, I have my family - a wonderful and intelligent son and two of the best daughters anyone could ask for! I am also blessed to have both my parents, ages 94 and 82, plus a wonderful daughter-in-law and two sons-in-law to be. My pride and joy lies in my four precious grandchildren - three granddaughters and one grandson - they have made my life complete!
I spend a great deal of time with my family just enjoying what the good Lord has given me, and I am so happy! I feel very privileged to have already met so many wonderful adoptive families and hope to meet more in the future.
May 2003 bring you blessings….. Lupe
One Family's Story
Joy is not in things, it is in us. --Richard Wagner
A heartfelt "thank you" to Brian and Sharyn, parents of Zoe and Ian, for sharing their adoption journey with us this month….
Our adoption journey taught us to surrender - surrender our concept of what a family should be like, surrender our fear of being different, surrender our anger and disappointment over three years of unsuccessful infertility treatments, surrender our hearts and hopes to a birthmother and A.S.A. whom we had never known before. The journey scared us and tested our relationship, but today as we look at our two beautiful children, we can honestly say we would never change a thing.
The Serenity Prayer was our bedrock:
"God grant me the SERENITY to ACCEPT the things I cannot change, COURAGE to change the things I can, and the WISDOM to know the difference.
Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardship as the pathway to peace.
Taking, as He did, this…world as it is, not as I would have it. Trusting that He will make all things right if I Surrender to His Will;…" Amen
Had we not accepted our fate as an infertile couple, we would have never had the courage to find A.S.A. Proud of ourselves for making the leap to adoption, we assembled our photo album with the greatest care. We were registered on the list!
Peace soon gave way to fear as we waited, and waited, and waited. We heard horror stories of birthmothers who changed their minds and families who were out thousands of dollars. Some of our fears came true. We were presented with cases we did not feel right about and declined. One of our cases fell through, and another was on again, off again, through relinquishment.
When we did get matched, we grew close to our birthmothers. Those relationships taught us the biggest surprise of all. We were not the only vulnerable people in the relationship. We were not the only ones scared of a broken promise. We learned of their fears and apprehensions about making the right choice - would we love her child as much as she did, would we be good parents, would we send pictures like we promised and so on. We learned of their confusing feelings of sorrow over relinquishing their child, yet relief that we would care for a baby they could not. Our birthparents signed the relinquishment papers, and we finally had our babies! We also had a profound new respect for birthparents. Their strength and courage to choose life and then relinquish their children humbled us.
Today we look at our two beautiful children with profound peace and serenity. Not only because we received what we were looking for, but because we received what we were not looking for. The knowledge that when things are not going the way we want it, something else unimaginably wonderful is waiting out there for us.
We sincerely hope all of you on the waiting list remain hopeful. Expect the unexpected, do all that you can, and surrender the rest.
The Heart of the Matter
From time to time I receive questions regarding "statistics" on placements A.S.A. conducts each month or year, what the average waiting time will be for the expected placement of a child, etc. Unfortunately, based on the infinite number of factors involved in the culmination of each and every adoption facilitated by A.S.A. staff, it is next to impossible to determine what the coming year will hold in regard to the number of placements, the ethnic background of the babies we will have the privilege to meet, or how long your particular wait might be. We often provide you with "averages", based on recent history and the experiences of other families.
On that note, I'd like to share some encouraging news - that is, A.S.A. facilitated a total of 78 domestic adoptive placements during 2002 - that's 9 more than our total of 69 in 2001. Of the 78 placements, 50 were baby boys and 28 were baby girls - we've jokingly termed 2002 as "the Year of the Boy"!
The ethnicity of the 78 babies placed for adoption was as follows:
27 Caucasian
34 Hispanic
8 Caucasian/Hispanic
2 Black
1 Korean/Hispanic
2 Caucasian/Black
1 Marshall Islands
1 Hispanic/ ¼ Black, ¼ Caucasian
1 Caucasian/Philipino
1 Hispanic/Indian
I hope this information is of interest to you. If, in the coming year, you wish to make any changes to your Child Preference sheet and would like to have your profile considered by birth parents of an ethnic background other than what you originally indicated when first joining the program, please call me at (210) 699-6094 or e-mail me at dgaribay2000@yahoo.com
Please feel free to share your thoughts, concerns, or requests. I look forward to talking with you soon.
Warmly, Denise Y. Garibay, M.A.
Director of Social Services