Greetings from San Antonio!

Happy Halloween! Whatever your family's plans are for today and this evening, I hope everyone has lots of fun and merriment! A.S.A. hosted a Halloween get-together for birth parent clients this past Monday and everyone had a terrific time munching on snacks and painting pumpkins….

Meet the Staff

This month, meet A.S.A.'s Legal Assistant, Susan…

"Hello! My name is Susan Webster and I am the Legal Assistant for A.S.A.. I have been with the agency for fourteen years. I have a wonderful husband of twelve years and two beautiful children; Camille is ten and Taylor is five years old. When I'm not working, I'm cheering on the sidelines for Camille and Taylor at rodeos. Taylor also plays soccer and T-ball. We live a very busy, but exciting life. I have really enjoyed getting to know a lot of adoptive parents and staying in touch. I have had the pleasure of seeing a lot of dreams come true in the last fourteen years and I hope to a lot more in the years to come. Please feel free to call me if you ever have any legal questions."

Congratulations!

We're so excited for Chuck and Eileen on the arrival of their first child, a little boy they've named Daniel Alexander…

Michael and Colleen welcomed their first child, a sweet little girl named Chloe Rose - congrats!

Michael joined his family in October, and his parents Victoria and John couldn't be happier…

Forrest Benjamin joined his forever family last month, and his elated parents, Mark and Cynthia, are just thrilled…

Quinton Thomas joined his family in October, and mom Kelly couldn't be happier!

Christine and Lex welcomed their second child, a son they've named George Alexander…big sister Nina is as proud as can be!

Domenique Lee was warmly welcomed by her new parents, Chong and Andy…

Maria and Michael welcomed their second daughter, Sarah Marie this week…big sis Briana is so happy to have a little sister!

After a long and difficult journey, Michael and Maria welcomed their sweet baby boy, Nicholas Edward into their loving arms…

Kathleen Mary joined her parents, Mike and Theresa, and made of big brother out of their son, John!

Matthew and Angela welcomed their first child, a daughter named Aleksandra Farida…we're so happy for them!

One Family's Story

"Before we were parents, we never knew that something so small could affect our lives so much, we never knew the feeling of having our hearts outside our bodies, we never knew that something so small could make us feel so important and happy, we never knew that we would love being mom and dad, and we never knew that we could love someone so much".

Mark and I got married later in life and we knew that we wanted to have children right away. As soon as we got married we started trying with no success. After 1 year, we went to seek medical attention and we were told that we would have to try to conceive through IUI, fertility medication, and IVF. Well, after 12 unsuccessful IUI attempts, 6 months on fertility medication, and 2 unsuccessful IVF attempts, we decided we were going to adopt.

So we proceeded with adoption. We did lots of research and talked to people experienced with adoption. After several months and visits with our social worker we selected Adoption Services Associates in San Antonio. The people there were extremely helpful, kind and very friendly. We already had our home study done when we contacted them, but our paperwork took a few months to complete and in September, 2002 we were informed that we were officially "parents in waiting". We moved into our new home in October of 2002 and because of that we weren't able to submit our portfolio until January of 2003. We had hoped we would get a referral by December of 2003 and our Social Worker had made a prediction that we would get a referral within 4 months, but we know how long people have had to wait and we didn't believe her.

Well, you can imagine our total shock and surprise when we got a call on March 17, 2003 that we had been chosen as adoptive parents by a birth mother who was due in July of 2003. Well, we couldn't believe it. We decided to take the case and began talking to our birth mother the following week. We felt everything was going really well for the first couple of months, then we started to feel uncomfortable about this birth mother, as well as the case worker and all these red flags started to go up. Well, we decided to put everything in God's hands and stay with the case and God was certainly watching over us and our birth mother and baby because everything worked itself out the way it was meant to be.

We kept in contact with our birth mother and the agency on everything and on July 13 we flew out to Fort Worth because our birth mother thought her water had broken. Well, we stayed there until July 24 and nothing happened so we flew home. We were home 2 days until the 26th and we got a call from our birth mother that she was in the hospital and in labor. Well, we couldn't believe it! After all the waiting, nerves, and excitement our moment had finally arrived and our lives would be changed forever!! We flew back out to Fort Worth on Monday, July 28, 2003. We got to see our son for the first time on July 29, 2003 and he was absolutely a perfect little angel. Wow, what an experience and a feeling!!! We can't even describe everything we were feeling that day. It was one of the best days of our lives. We believed he was truly ours when we saw him in the hospital that day and then even more when we actually got to take him out of the hospital and take this baby home with us.

So, now we are the proud parents of our sweet son Aidan and we couldn't be happier. We know that there was a reason we couldn't conceive and that was for all of our lives to be blessed by our wonderful bundle of joy. We believe that we are blessed to have him and that he is blessed to have us. Thank you so much to God and everyone at A.S.A. for making our dreams come true. We are looking forward to starting proceedings for our second adoption in the near future. --Mark and Mary

Thank you, Mark and Mary, for sharing your journey with us this month…I hope their story will serve as an inspiration and an encouragement to those waiting families who at times feel discouraged and wonder how long it will be before a baby joins their family…

In closing, I'd like to share a beautifully written and heart-warming letter written by a birth mother, Liz, who placed her son for adoption during the past week. Liz has given me permission to share her letter, in hopes of offering you a glimpse into the thoughts and feelings of a birth parent…it is my hope that reading her letter will be an inspiration to you as you move forward in your adoption journey….

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October 26, 2003

For Mike and Maria - I just want to say that I am so happy for you guys! You have only justified my decision. I have enjoyed the process, and I hope that the way in which I asked to see it through helped you as much as it helped me. Mike, you have shown well before the big day that the passion you have to be a daddy was so real, one could almost reach out and touch it. And, Maria, the way you looked at him that first night, the longing to just sweep this baby away and love him, was so alive in your eyes, that I wanted to ease your ache at that moment.

And now it has come. This is not just because of me. You are some of the most wonderful people that I have ever met. I can say that I am sorry for the heartache from before, but I'm glad that it worked out the way it did. Nicholas deserved you the most! He knows that this is his daddy, and this is his mommy. I have not had one doubt in my mind or heart since the first day I talked to you guys. I will say, however, that up until now, I didn't think there was going to be anything hard about any of this. Sadly, I was wrong. I don't see you as the "people who adopted the baby I had". I think I put as much into placing this little guy as you did looking for him, and as a result, I feel I have made friends. I will be sad to see you go, but at the same time, I know you will keep in touch. Please understand that I am so happy with my decision that if I never hear from you again, I will not worry for one second about the baby's well being. As I have always said, he was never meant for me. He truly is your child. So when you do write and send pictures, I would like it if you wrote to me as your new friend, and not out of any obligation. There was nothing that you could have done to make up my mind about you. Because the day I called ASA, I wasn't even sure why I had chosen you, but I felt almost as though something had just said "these are the people". It wasn't until later that evening that I actually read your profile, and up to this very day I still don't have a copy. So you see, Mike and Maria, I do believe that everything happens for a very good reason. Right from the very beginning. From seven weeks in utero, there was a little voice that said, "If you give me a chance, I will show you where I belong".

And now, I am glad that against all odds, I chose love, and risked everything that I could have lost. Love does conquer all. Now we both will end the year celebrating holidays with all our wishes having come true. Once again, I have the family that I never thought I deserved, and you have the family you never thought you'd have. God does answer prayers, even those that we didn't think we sent.

Thank you so much for all that you have done, and for the wonderful people that you are. I know that families like yours are real, and that you can't change the past, but you can aim for a better future. From this, I have learned so much about the person I have been, the person that I can be, and the person I want to be. I am thanking you because I thought I'd be the only one giving through out this process, but I will be the one to say that all that you two have given in return will be remembered forever.

Your Friend, Always, Liz

As always, please feel free to reach me with your thoughts, concerns, or questions via e-mail at dgaribay2000@yahoo.com or by telephone at (210) 699-6094. Denise Y. Garibay, M.A. Director of Social Services