No discussion of the emotions of adoption is complete without discussing joy. My most joyful life events have arisen out of the adoption process. My only other life event that even comes close is my wedding day.

The experience of being matched with my son’s then-placing mother was one of the most joyful experiences of my life. Part of what made it so powerful was the stark contrast with how I had been feeling the weeks before we were matched.

I had sunk into a depression. We had been waiting to be matched for 17 months, and I thought I was going to lose my mind if we were not matched soon. I was crying a lot and losing hope that I would ever be a mother. By this point, I had been trying to become a mother for over 4 years. I was worn out.

Then, out of nowhere, the saying, “It is always darkest before the dawn” came into my mind, which is weird because I always thought it was a dumb saying. Each time I started to stew about the wait, that saying would come into my mind again: “It’s always darkest before the dawn.”

The day “the” call came was like any other day. I stopped by the post office to pick up some adoption stamps, and there was a message on the answering machine from the adoption agency. I cannot put into words the immense joy I felt when the director told me that we had been matched with a placing mother whose baby was due in a few weeks. When I hung up the phone, I laughed and cried and yelled out because I could not contain the joy in my soul. The joy I felt on the day I met my son was equally as powerful.

When we talk about the emotions of adoption, it is easy to get bogged down in the painful emotions, but it is because of the hope of this joy that we endure. Becoming a parent is an amazing experience. As you struggle with the pain, hold onto the hope of experiencing joy in the future – hopefully in the very near future.

Related Topics:

• Meeting the Baby



• Receiving The Call That We Were Matched




• Adoption- Joy For Adopting Parents?



• The emotions of adoption


• Emotions of Adoption Series