Happy Birthday Marco!!!

Eight years ago today the world became a brighter place when Marco Vinicio Gomez Lopez was born. Our son. Of course we weren't at the hospital, nor did we hear his first cry, and we didn't even learn of his birth until mid-December.

Here is what I do know of that day...

*We were home in Indianapolis working on adoption research. The decision had been made to grow our family through adoption but we had not shared the news yet.
*I prayed each day for our future child, who was probably not yet born, and for the birth family.
*In Jalapa, Guatemala there was a very courageous woman who had some tough choices to make regarding her newborn son.

In the adoption community it is often discussed that adoption requires a huge leap of faith. As adoptive parents we prayed, researched, learned all we could, attended meetings, endured multiple interviews, completed state and FBI fingerprinting, were required to prove our financial, mental, physical, and all-round well being, completed a huge stack of legal paperwork, and in the end made that leap of faith.

I am thinking today about the leap of faith made by Marco's birth mother, Ana Francisca. She had to believe that the people surrounding her in the adoption choice were trustworthy and truthful. She had to believe in her soul that relinquishing her newborn son to an attorney who promised to provide a loving foster home during the adoption proceedings AND place her son with a family in a foreign country would result in the outcome she desired. Talk about a leap of faith - incredible.

Our family had the precious opportunity to meet Marco's birth mother in June. We brought Ana Francisca from her home, four hours away, to Guatemala City to be with us. I'll never forget walking our son to his birth mother and watching their reunion. He looks like her. It appears she is quiet - much like Marco. It wasn't awkward. It wasn't nerve-wracking. It was several hours of pure joy. Sure, there were sad moments, particularly as Mark and I learned more about Ana Francisca's life and her circumstances. There were tears. Most of all there was pure love. Ana Francisca loved watching Marco talk. She scoured his entire body with her eyes as if she was drinking in every bit of him. She kept repeating "he looks so good". I saw peace in her eyes. In turn, she gave me the sweetest gift of peace as well when she remarked, "He looks so good...I will never worry about him again." It was almost as if she could now be completely secure in her decision and confirm for herself that the leap of faith taken on October 5, 2001 was a wise choice.

The timing of the decision to adopt, sharing our news, and his birth is a fun story in itself. On October 6, 2001 we attended a meeting with an adoption agency and made the final decision to move forward with a Guatemalan adoption from that agency. On October 7, 2001 we sat down with Zack and Katie to share the news we were adopting a baby. They were absolutely thrilled and couldn't wait to welcome a new sibling. On December 13, 2001 we received the referral of Marco which means he was matched with our family. Initially I was shocked to learn he was born in October. We were expecting a newborn referral. When I looked at the calendar I was overcome with emotion in realizing that Marco was born on Friday night, we made our decision to move forward with the adoption on Saturday, and told the kids of our plans on Sunday of that first weekend in October. Simply amazing. Little did we know during that weekend that our son had been born on Friday night.

So today we celebrate! We celebrate the birth of a little boy in another country who through the courage of his birth mother, the success of an adoption system, the decision of our family, and the hand of God became our son.

Feliz Cumpleanos Marco Vinicio - you have many people who love you dearly!

Visiting Marco in Guatemala when he was 5 months old - March 2002

Marco sharing photographs of his life with his birth mother Ana Francisca - June 2009


The birthday boy - October 2009