Wendy's first PAP's

No - it's not a Pap smear! Gosh guys! Don't you know the lingo by now?! :) hee,hee.

PAP stands for Prospective Adoptive Parents. Why am I talking about Wendy's first PAP's? Did you even know that she had another family wanting to adopt her? Let me back up.

We knew that Wendy ended up at Casa Bernabe because she had been placed for adoption at some point before she was 15 months old, but her birth mom never showed up for the DNA testing. That's all we knew. We speculated on some things, but we never really had concrete info, as CB didn't really know. All during the adoption I was dying to find out more history on her first 15 months of life - who wanted to adopt her? What really happened? Did the previous PAPs name her from birth, or did she live with her mom/family for awhile? We just knew nothing. I know that Wendy will have questions when she gets older, so I really wanted to find out. However, I really didn't want to do any "digging" until our adoption was complete. Now that it is, I wanted to start trying to look for her previous PAPs. I wasn't sure if I would even find them as it's been a few years, and I wasn't 100% sure they would want to be found or would be happy to know we adopted her. I didn't want to bring up the heartbreaking feelings they must have felt when they lost Wendy's adoption. I didn't even know what the circumstances were - if they had decided not to try to adopt her when she became an abandonment case, or if they had fought to keep her, and what happened. Anyways . . . .all this to say - God hears our cries!

I had not even started looking yet, when, last Thursday, a woman named Kelly who I had become friends with from my agency (through our adoptions and similar life/family situations) said she had seen a post on an adoption forum of someone looking for the family that adopted a "Wendy" recently. Through a series of emails between my friend and this person, and then that person and another (3rd) woman - the 3rd woman's info got passed back to me as the possible previous PAP for our Wendy!!! (did I just confuse you??) She was 99% sure after seeing this blog (sent to her by the second lady, who got it from my friend!). The 3rd lady sent me her name and number . . . . and don't you know I called her immediately!!! I left a message and she called me right back. WOW!! God is sooo cool!! After quickly comparing some info - we realized that our little Wendy was the same Wendy that she and her family had tried to adopt in 2005 when Wendy was 1!!! I was in shock that God totally led her to me in such a quick way (and a big THANK YOU to my friend Kelly for making the connections!!!!!!!!)! AND . . . . this woman is a woman after my own heart!!! She saved all sorts of pics and info on Wendy . . . which she so graciously is passing on to us!!! What a woman! God bless her!!! We talked for about an hour on the phone, and she sent me several emails of info, and will be sending me some CD's with pics &/or videos too!! Wow! I can't wait! It was such a pleasure to talk with her, hear about her daughter they ended up bringing home last year, and how this has been such a blessing to her, as it brings closure to her and her family. They loved Wendy and were so worried that she had been sent to a gov't orphanage and wouldn't get out of there. They were so happy to know that she was well cared for and loved at Casa Bernabe (we are too!!!)!

So - here's what I learned - Evidentaly Wendy was placed for adoption when she was 1 and that's when this family got her referral. They were totally in love with her! Can you see why?After a few months, however, Wendy's birth mom came and took Wendy back. This was devastating news to this family (can you imagine?)! They accepted another referral, but after that one fell through too (can you feel their pain?) they were told that Wendy was back, but that she would be an abandonment case (as her mom was no longer in the picture) and did they want to continue? . . . . Of course they did!!! So they did everything they were supposed to . . . filed papers, wrote letters, sent pictures, etc. And despite it all - the "abandonment decree" was denied (NOW can you feel their pain?!). Who knows for what reason the judge denied it - but as both the previous adoptive mom and I said - "It was meant to be"! We are thrilled that we were able to adopt Wendy as she truly fits into our family perfectly and is a true West, and the other family has adopted a BEAUTIFUL little girl that fits perfectly into their family! Isn't God good??!!

Well, as you can see - I was on cloud 9 last Thursday - and feel so blessed to have had my prayers answered so quickly and easily!! We still don't know anything about her 1st year of life, but we assume she was living with her mom &/or her family. We do have more info on her mom's age, grandparents names, and some early medical info (from 1 year till the orphanage) - and that's a blessing.

God bless you all today! May God answer the cries of your heart and bless you above and beyond what you could ever imagine!!!

Blessings
Lori :)