I have experienced firsthand the courage of two birth mothers who chose my husband and me to raise their babies. We met these pregnant women, as well as the birth fathers and birth grandparents, of our daughters. Together, we decided to move forward and build our unconventional family. It is called open adoption. Our children know their full story, living their lives knowing who they are and how they came to be adopted.

Some open-adoption arrangements are subtle, with occasional contact throughout the year. We went all in after meeting Carmen, our first birth mother, and then Nadia, our second. With open minds and open hearts, we shared our stories and listened to one another, realizing that we could help each other. We formed a family circle bound together by choice, vulnerability, commu

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