Larry Norman
As he sits through yet another lengthy lecture by yet another specialist he cannot help but wonder what will be her reaction this time. His wife has been to so many specialists and sat through so many of these discussions, yet the onset of tears never seems to fail. This time it is his turn to be the one checked. They all say the same thing: do not give up, keep trying, it will happen when it is supposed to, or the one that keeps the cycle going “there is something else we can try.” There is always something else to try. But not this time; this time something is different. He hears new words coming from this doctor: “I’m sorry but the tests are conclusive you will never be able to conceive.”
Now mind you, this is in 1990 and by 2009 medical science has advanced by leaps and bounds. But short of much more money than your average communications tech made in 1990 things such as artificial insemination might as well have been science fiction. It was not going to happen.
Just then he hears the word adoption and stopped thinking about the dreaded ride home from this visit. What was he talking about? What expression is she making? Could it be that it is a ray of hope? He thinks that maybe all is not lost. This is something that might work; there might be a child in the future after all. The doctor gave him some information to go through and the visit is over. He looks at his wife in the car and wonders what she is thinking. She is busy reading and does not appear to be in the mood to talk. *****************
It is 3:00 am on Tuesday, September 5. He wakes up to the persistent ringing of a telephone. Dread fills his mind, as people usually do not call at that hour without serious news. He answers, and hears her voice: “it’s time; we are on the way to the hospital.”
He quickly tells her that they are on the way and will meet them there. He hangs up the phone and looks over to a pair of hopeful, emotion filled eyes and repeats the words “it’s time.”
As he gets dressed, he can’t help but think that this must be very close to what the birth father is going through tonight, as well, both of them wanting to get through this, but for very different reasons. He pauses for a moment, and for the thousandth time wonders if this is how his father felt when he was being born, feelings of sadness sneaking in even at this time of joy. It has only been a few months since the funeral and he finds that this morning he misses him even more than usual.
He hears a sniffle and looks across at his wife and she has tears in her eyes. Are they tears of joy or is she afraid that she is going to wake up and find the devastating end of yet another nightmare? They hug and silently get in the car for the drive to the hospital. He holds her hand, trying to be strong and supportive, telling her that this time it is for real. He is sure that they will not change their minds this time.
It seems that the entire world has slowed down and the drive across town is taking forever. He makes the comment: “Why is it that every time I am in a hurry I seem to get caught at every traffic light in my path.” He does not usually have a lot of patience when driving, and especially not this night/morning.
It is not until he gets to the parking lot that he remembers that he has been instructed to call the attorney when it happens, regardless of the time of day. He grabs his phone and calls the pre-programmed number and waits until a groggy voice answers.
“We’re at the hospital” he says. He gets his instructions and follows his wife, who had been too excited and scared to wait for him to make the phone call. He thanks God and his recently deceased father for directing him to choose such a caring and decent attorney to handle the entire affair.
Upon entering the hospital he gets directions to the proper waiting area. The birth father is standing there and explaining that the nurses were getting the birth mother ready. This was for real, not a false labor run. A nurse comes up and tells the birth father that he can go in the room now. He asks if we can join them and she asks who we are. He explains that they are not keeping the child and that we are the adoptive parents. It is at this point that things became both better and worse. He was glad to hear that there is no hesitation in the birth fathers voice. But the look that comes over the nurse was one that was totally unexpected. She scowls and quickly says that they would have to wait--that only the mother and father were allowed in the room at that point.
The birth father goes into the room, and a moment later a nurse goes in. When she comes out, she comes over to him and says that against her better judgment both birth parents have demanded that the adoptive parents be allowed into the room, and she was going to allow it. He sighs in relief; they both are still intent on going through with it. He is really about to become a father. He knows at that moment he would always make sure that the child would know what kind of unselfish birth parents he had. He knows that they realize that while still in high school neither of the birth parents are ready for the responsibility that comes with raising a child. They are both adamant that they are going to finish high school and possibly go on to college.
He walks into the room and looks around. There in the bed is the birth mother and right next to her is his wife. Both women are crying, but it is easy to tell that they were tears of joy now. Then come the inevitable period of waiting for the child to decide it was time to make an appearance. Several hours go by and there was a knock on the door. The birth father opens the door and the attorney steps in. The attorney says that he is just stopping by to see how everyone is doing. The attorney makes small talk for a moment and then asks for both adoptive parents to leave for a moment. As he waits outside he keeps wondering what is going on in the room.
Shortly, the door opens and the attorney comes out. The attorney advises him that from that point on things will be a little different. The attorney has to inform the doctors of the pending adoption and introduce himself and explain what was going to take place. At this point, he tells the attorney about the scornful look that had been on the nurse’s face. The attorney says that it is not unusual, but that there is only so much that the nurses can do or say regarding the adoption and that some would undoubtedly be for and some against it. He asks what had happened in the room and is told that the attorney is required to keep the interests of the birth parents in consideration throughout the entire process and that the meeting is just a formality to ensure that no intentions had changed. The attorney then says that he is going to his office and will instruct the receptionist to put his call through immediately when the birth takes place. All the paperwork is already prepared and things will go at a much faster pace from this point forward.
After the conversation with the attorney, he goes back into the room where his wife goes directly to the side of the bed to offer support. It becomes apparent that it is not as adoptive parent to birth parent, but as one woman to another. He glances at the birth father and they both grin. Things seem to be going very well indeed.
Just then, the birth mother’s normal doctor walks in she looks around and then directly at his wife. The two women share an expression of shock and then the doctor tells him and his wife that they need to step out while she conducts an examination. He goes outside the room and gives his wife a quizzical look. His wife explains that this was her normal gynecological doctor, as well. After what seemed forever, the doctor comes out with a smile on her face. She comes over and hugs his wife and then says that she was surprised and happy to hear what was going on and that they are the adoptive parents. She tells his wife that she knows how much this meant to her and that everything was going right on schedule. After talking for a few moments the doctor excuses herself and goes on her way. He and his wife then go back into the delivery room and continue waiting. As he sat waiting for what seemed to be an eternity, he wondered if this was a sign. If the child was this stubborn at birth what would the future be like?
Contractions finally kick in and the time comes. The nurses make him go outside and send his wife with him. In this they will not budge even though the birth mother asked for her to stay. He calls the attorney, his mother, his wife’s sister, and everyone else they could think of.
The birth father comes out and says that it was a boy and that everything is fine. The nurses and doctor are just getting the boy cleaned up and getting everything done. Shortly the doctor opened the door and says to come in. The nurse gives the baby to the birth mother, who gives him to the birth father, who immediately turns and places him into the longing, eager and trembling hands of his wife. After which she sat down and with tears in her eyes took on a glow that he had not seen in many years.
He fells sure that the entire room full of people can feel the love in the air; it has a tangible presence that even turns the attitude of the nurses. After a while, he hears a voice telling him to sit down, and he receives his first instruction on how to hold an infant. He looks down, almost too terrified to move, afraid that he would do something wrong and sees the little bundle of life that was in his hands and the awesome responsibility that comes with it washes over him like a wave. He knows more so at that moment than ever before that there was nothing that he would not do for that little wrinkled, pink life that was so lovingly entrusted to him. Time seems to stop; at that moment nothing exists other than his new son. He fells a bond that defies description forming between the two of them, something that could never be broken or tarnished. He realizes that his life has changed forever. He thinks about the future and as he fells a warm hand squeeze his shoulder he knows that he and his wife are no longer just a couple, but a family.
